A Sign of The Times
by halfcurehalfdisease
Summary: People and Pokemon die; everyone knows that. Life goes on. But when Legendaries are murdered by an obscure, sinister group, how long does it take for the world to fall into turmoil? Who will rise up to restore the balance? A dystopian/apocalyptic AU.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If I did it would definitely not be a children's game.**

* * *

6 years ago:

The headlines on the newspapers were stark and foreboding across the Hoenn:

"RAYQUAZA DEAD; POKÉMON LEAGUE FAILS TO PROTECT IT".

A still, cold silence had befallen the people of not only Hoenn, but the world. Regular Pokémon and people died all the time—everyone had been to a funeral of a life cut short too soon. Some lost a husband to a war, a beloved Raticate to brutality, a friend to a random murder. Sudden and unexpected deaths were part of life, as regular people and Pokémon were fragile and mortal and never infallible. This fate was expected of them, no matter how tragic and harrowing these thoughts were.

But a dead Legendary, one as important as Rayquaza, left everyone as cold as the breath of a Regice. If a legend could die, what could be said for the average denizens of the world?

Steven Stone felt that he had aged ten years since the death of the Sky High Pokémon two days ago. The article failed to state that Drake and Glacia of his League had both died in the hospital this morning from wounds sustained in their fruitless attempts to protect Rayquaza.

It failed to state that Phoebe, the youngest member, had put in her resignation and fled to Mt. Pyre to her grandparents after the death of her former mentors.

It failed to state that no one had offered their help when the League reported suspicions about a splinter group called Aether that threatened to capture and destroy the major Legendaries of the world.

It failed to state that Steven, aside fellow League member Sidney, was utterly alone in dealing with the heated questions.

Just hours before, at the Mossdeep Space Center, Steven had to answer questions. They were burning, scathing, uncompromising questions that cut him even more deeply than Phoebe's tearful resignation had been earlier that day.

"How could you let such a thing happen?" demanded a buxom Johtonese reporter.

"What were you thinking, going in alone?" roared an angular Hoennese pundit.

"Why?"

"Who?"

"Where?"

"This is _your_ fault!"

Though the questions had closed in, Steven explained to the best of his abilities that when he had attempted to get support from law enforcement and the Gym Leaders to destroy Aether before they could even try to lift a finger against Rayquaza where he slept, no one had listened. He also attempted to explain that Aether wasn't like the goofy, bombastic organizations Aqua and Magma, who had been defeated by Pokémon Trainer Brendan Fuertes just a few short years ago. Very few knew much about Aether, a clandestinely subversive group well-cloaked by the richest members of Hoennese society. It was not unlike how the best assassins in the world were never heard of because they did their work so well.

Steven had told them that Aether had initially formed after the incidents with Magma and Aqua had nearly left the world in a chaotic swirl of frigid rain and unbearable drought. At birth, their goal had been simple and pure: protect the Legendaries from being weaponized and used by human beings.

Somehow, their ideals of protection had escalated to committing the murder of Rayquaza to keep him from being used by people.

The reporters took this information from Steven, cut him with more words, and left him for dead.

In the present, a scream rattled the room, and Steven realized it was his own. Tears poured down his cheeks, and he let them. His head slammed into his desk as he wept; he didn't care. The pain meant he was alive; Glacia and Drake weren't. "Why?" he moaned, slamming his fist into the table. Never in his life had he felt so grief-riddled and disgusted with everything.

He cried until his battered face stung with salt. Steven Stone, formerly a strong, self-assured man with a steely will, found himself broken. No one had a response for his grief.

No one had response to his grief but blame for problems that he hadn't caused.

The grieving couldn't last long, however.

It seemed that the death of Rayquaza had triggered the unraveling of the world Steven had once loved so dearly.

* * *

4 years ago

Not that he had seen the punch to the face coming, but seventeen year old Brendan Fuertes had known immediately that he at least in part deserved the hard knuckles cracking against his already-bruised cheekbones.

"You stupid son of a bitch!" his assailant, Sidney of the Elite Four, growled. He wound up to punch again, and Brendan didn't even guard himself. He let himself collapse, a corona of water flying into the air around him as his body slammed down into the shallows.

Standing on a shoal in the middle of a Hoennese ocean, rain poured down onto the two men. Brendan suspected through a film of stars that the liquid dripping down Sidney's face was also tinged with the salt of frustrated tears. The operation was not going as smoothly as planned. "When you were running around playing master Pokémon Trainer, you could've caught them! They wouldn't be flooding and baking the world if you had just caught the damned Pokémon!"

Silently, Brendan rubbed a hand across his mouth. It came away streaked with watery blood. Taking a moment to collect himself, he clambered to his feet, gazing at his troubled Swampert circling around in deeper waters. "The same thought crossed my mind, you know," he whispered.

The Elite Four member took a deep breath. He followed Brendan's gaze to the Swampert. "I can't blame you. A big, overpowered Pokémon like that…like Kyogre and Groudon, or even Rayquaza…they're so dangerous, no matter whether someone is controlling them or not." Directing his gaze to Brendan, he sighed loudly and massaged the base of his skull. Dark gingery stubble had started to spring in unkempt tufts from his head. "This is becoming such a f***ed up world, isn't it?"

Brendan nodded, used to Sidney's mood swings. Though he was generally fairly jovial and lackadaisical even now, his mood soured at a moment's notice. Steeling himself, the younger man gazed up at the churning black clouds. "If it's messed up to the point that we're subduing two major Legendaries and putting them into cryostasis, I can't imagine how much worse the future is going to be."

Sidney laughed harshly in response. Clapping a hand roughly to the younger man's shoulders, he said simply, "Sorry about the punch and all, but you really piss me off sometimes. And right now you're pissing me off with the sad Poochyena puppy face. Your friend May isn't nearly as big of a sad sack as you are."

A deeply-tanned woman emerged from the deep void at the center of the shoal on the back of her Lantern. "Hey, Fuertes? You got that activation code for the stasis machine? We need it now," she ordered gruffly, her cracked lips dripping seawater.

Exchanging looks with Sidney, they shared a secret sigh of relief. Kyogre had been putting up a fight for days; the Legendary was responsible for two Pokémon deaths and three human ones in the process. As grim as that seemed, it sounded as though this operation was working better than the one with Groudon was currently going. May had given some chilling reports in the past forty-eight hours via PokeNav about it.

Brendan beckoned his Swampert over. Perhaps the rain was beginning to chill him, but he knew that the dive into the deepest depths of the ocean and into Kyogre's lair was going to be a frigid one. "Memorized and ready to go," he replied.

As he hopped onto Swampert's back, Brendan gave Sidney one last look. "Are you sure that you don't want to join me on this dive?"

"I like the dark, but I'm pretty sure Sharpedo would eat me if I made us go down there again. He lost six teeth this morning," he responded dryly.

Brendan rolled his eyes. Turning to Swampert, he ordered, "Dive. We have important things to do.

* * *

3 years ago

"Just because I'm working with you and that dumbass Colress doesn't mean I trust you."

Ghetsis Harmonia scowled at the young woman's voice that interrupted his examinations of synthetic fibers through a microscope. The young dark-haired, blue-eyed woman, only known by the moniker White to him, stood leaning against the doorway of the secret laboratory underneath Virbank City in the Unova region.

Though his son always loved her—enough to awkwardly propose to her and gain a lovely fiancée out of her—Ghetsis always thought she moved and talked and stood too much like a man to be attractive, though. "Am I supposed to be surprised?" he asked, smiling grimly at her.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Colress tells me that the stick suits will be ready for public use soon."

"Yes." The woven fabric had proven to be effective at negating the effects of a spatial rend, the horrible condition inflicted upon the earth by the space Pokémon Palkia. Unusual minerals, typically found in only the darkest and most terrifying of caves, had provided a great deal of protection against the world tearing itself to pieces. Ghetsis had tried to explain how this worked to his coworkers and overseers, but they didn't truly understand.

"They'd better be." Entering the lab, she slapped a newspaper down at his workstation, upsetting his samples. White jabbed a finger at the headline. "Hell is unleashing itself out there."

Ghetsis sighed and picked up the paper, reading where she had pointed. "'Disappearance of Sinnoh Lake Trio Enrages Time and Space Pokémon'," he read loudly. "How scintillating. Aether really knows how to tamper with people's lives."

"Shut up, old man. The population of an entire town in that region was torn to pieces in their rage. Before that, the spatial rends were isolated incidents caused by a lack of control over Palkia, the space Pokémon. These stick suits are going to protect people from that fate," White growled. With a clawed hand, she snatched up the newspaper. "We need the fabric done at the end of the week. These will save people's lives."

With a loud groan, Ghetsis looked back at his samples once more. "You're very lucky I enjoy science. Otherwise I might rather rot in prison."

White apparently had no response to that. Moments later, he heard the lab door slam shut, and his future daughter-in-law had swept out of the room. "I sense she wears the pants in that relationship," he said absentmindedly to the empty room. "Natural was never that gruff."

_It's strange how the life of the world is suddenly in the hands of those who have no idea what to do with it._

* * *

2 years ago

Ashes swirled across the water, already murky with the debris of several spatial rends. Gareth Oak, better known as Blue Oak to the general population of the world, didn't know what to make of the idea that Cerulean Cave, just across the stream from this grassy knoll, had been destroyed. Obliterated along with it had most likely been Mewtwo, researchers, several miners working to extract ores needed to create the synthetic stick suits, the clothing that kept a living body in one piece in the event of nearly being torn apart by spatial rends. So far, ten casualties had been accounted for. Three miners had been crushed to death; two other ones had risked going out without stick suits. Five researchers from the Johto had died from similar fates.

Children had been orphaned by the destruction of Cerulean Cave. Husbands lost wives. Old friends were parted by death. Quite simply, no one was left unscathed.

Blue glanced over his shoulder to see one of his former rivals, the ever-quiet and benevolent Leaf Greenfield, crouching by a very terrified orphaned boy of about twelve. His tufted shock of black hair and almond-shaped eyes had Blue pegging him as Johtonese.

"What do I do?" The boy cried. "All I had was Dad! Mom and my sister are gone! I can't be alone!" His voice broke, and he began to cry.

A great deal of compassion blossomed in Leaf's face. She drew the boy to her, embracing him fiercely and silently. He sobbed into her chest, and Blue couldn't help but feel deeply moved by the boy's plight. Once an uncommon occurrence in any region, being parentless was unfortunately a painful reality of life.

Blue couldn't stand to hear this child cry, though. Though losing family had become normal in this chaotic world, it didn't make it any less painful. "Leaf!" he called, and her vibrantly bright green eyes met his brown ones. "I'm going to make a phone call. Keep an eye on this one."

She simply nodded. A sigh escaped Blue's lips as he went to make his phone call.

Leaf sat with the boy. She didn't know how to comfort him aside from holding him; people oftentimes told her that her mellow presence was enough to calm people. This kid, though, was a mess of hot, salty tears on chubby cheeks. Leaf herself had lost parents at a young age, but it had been at such a young age that she couldn't remember what coping mechanisms, if any, she had used to get by. "What's your name?" she asked him quietly as he peeled away, though she already knew from the reports given by the paramedics and rescuers swarming the rubble.

"E-Ethan," he replied tremulously. "Ethan Hibiki. My dad was in there taking samples for Professor Elm when…when…" he trailed off, ducking his head. There was no need to finish that sentence.

They sat in silence. A chilly spring breeze wafted between them. "What town do you live in normally?"

"Newbark," he responded solemnly.

"It's pretty," Leaf replied. "My mom took me there a lot when I was a kid."

"But it's in the middle of nowhere," Ethan protested weakly.

Tugging at the neck of her stick suit, Leaf watched as the rescuers successfully freed a miner who had just been entering the cave to work when it had collapsed. "The little towns are what are safe right now. The big cities are targets for terrorists."

Ethan gazed at the ruins of Cerulean Cave with reddened eyes. "Targets," he echoed. His stick suit, the protective was two sizes too large; it was nowhere near skintight on him. At the same time, his outerwear, such as a dark red sweatshirt and black athletic shorts, were both too short. He tugged the hem of his sweatshirt downward self-consciously when he noticed that Leaf's gaze was directed toward the dark, tightly-knit fabric of a stick suit drooping on his belly. "The only family I have left is my grandparents near Goldenrod City. They're not healthy enough to take care of me."

"I think my friend Blue might be trying to take care of that," Leaf said, watching the Gym Leader gesticulate wildly while conversing with someone on his Pokegear. "He had that look."

A few minutes later, Blue returned. Had the mood not been so heavy and dark, Leaf would have laughed. Blue had the tired and frustrated expression of a man who had attempted to talk Professor Elm into making a decision—it was a ridiculously distinctive look. "Professor Elm knows a family in Newbark Town that will take in Ethan," he announced.

"Who?" Ethan asked in a hollow voice.

"That town is so small you probably know already, but Mrs. Chiyo Soul is going to take you in. She's this ridiculously, unbelievably nice woman who makes the best damned burgers ever. Her daughter is about two years older than you and is a little odd, quite frankly," Blue replied.

Ethan seemed to sigh at this. "The Souls. Yeah. I know them."

"You sound…disappointed?" Leaf asked.

He shook his head. "It's just…Blue's right. Mrs. Soul is nice. Lyra is…Lyra."

Leaf exchanged looks with her childhood friend. She knew Mrs. Soul: a chipper woman with short brown hair and a household filled with children. Her role was best described as being a foster mother to children orphaned by the spatial rends and attacks by Aether and other terrorist organizations and also to Professor Elm, serving as a part-time assistant and also as his errand woman. She had never met Lyra Soul, her only biological child. "I'm sure she will be good to you. I know Mrs. Soul will be," Leaf said, shooting her most encouraging smile at him.

Ethan snorted. "You can't guarantee Lyra will be good to me."

Blue clapped him on the shoulder. "Cheer up. She's cute in spite of all of, uh, that."

Truly puzzled now, Leaf wondered exactly what Mrs. Soul's child was like if even Blue was beginning to refer to her as strange.

* * *

On top of a mountain, far from the depravity of the world, a Champion sat far from it all, eyes closed and heart slow as he sat alone. His Pikachu chirruped quietly at him from his lap as a gust buffeted him where he sat.

The wind didn't disturb his stillness, but the vague feeling that the world was slowly dissolving into a hellishly slow death.

Maybe it was best to stay up here, away from the destruction.

* * *

_A/N: Hey there. I've decided to undertake a summer fic. I'm officially out of school until September now, and I want to undertake a larger project. Also I've had trouble with inspiration on my other two fics...*awkward laughing*_

_So I was doodling one day in my math class and drew Apocalyptic!Lyra and Dystopian!Steven Stone and I really liked them and somehow it became this. _

_This fic is going to really heavily focus on the Johto morons (Lyra, Silver, Kris, and Ethan) and some Hoenn idiots (Brendan and Steven mostly). But almost all major protags will show up at some point. As always, this ship has a theme of SOULSILVERSHIPPING because wow I can't leave this ship alone. In this fic, obviously Ferriswheelshipping is a thing, too. _

_So, to sum it all up: Rayquaza is dead along with a few members of the Hoenn Elite Four, the Lake Trio has disappeared, there's some team called Aether roaming about with murderous intent, and Palkia is so enraged that he's tearing up the fabric of space..._

_Leave a review if you'd like. I'm not sure where this project is gonna go, or if I'll lose inspiration on this, too, but maybe it'll turn out to be something more._


	2. Justice

**Note: Chapter edited for grammar because my editors weren't quite doing their job.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But if I did I'd probably have the rights to Pokemon taken away from me.**

* * *

Present time:

It was a beautiful summer morning outside of Violet City. In spite of the collapsed Magnet Train line littering the hilly landscape, it was a picturesque scene of Mareep milling about aimlessly and water Pokémon splashing around in the nearby lake.

All seemed peaceful and well—a strange concept in a time when the world was slowly being torn apart by overpowered Pokémon gods.

In a nearby bush, a young woman with flinty brown eyes and a rather hapless Quilava stood gazing at one Mareep in particular. This one was a young, small female with bright, button-shaped eyes that could've wooed just about anyone.

"Ah, the wild Mareep," the girl narrated to herself, tugging the brim of her white newsboy hat over her eyes, "The Wool Pokémon. Known to travel in flocks. Unluckily for this one, we're going to…unflock her."

"Quil," the Quilava hissed. _Unflock is not a word!_

"Hush now, Copper. I'll only stop narrating my own life when someone does it for me in a TV drama about my life when I'm sixty. Not that the world is gonna live long enough for me to make it to sixty, but the sentiment is good," the girl retorted. Creeping forward, she smiled brightly. "Let's go impress her!"

When a small girl of sixteen leaped from the brush, followed by her reluctant Quilava named Copper, the Mareep didn't know whether to be horrified or amused by the entrance. "Hello there!" the girl boomed, her voice quite a bit deeper than the Mareep would have expected from such a small human body. "My name is Lyra Soul! We're gonna be buddies!"

Mareep cocked her head to one side. She asked, "Reep, mar?" _Exactly what were you aiming for?_

"I see you're not duly impressed," Lyra muttered to herself, stroking at her jaw. Her pigtails sprang up and down in the wind. "I would understand. Copper here isn't very impressive looking. He's quite the cuddly cutie, actually."

"Qui!" _Don't insult me! _Quilava snapped, eyeing his Trainer fiercely. "Lava!" His flames sprang to life so powerfully that Lyra had to leap away, batting flames off of the ends of her pigtails.

"Aw, Copper, you burned my pigtails again! I'm gonna have to chop 'em! My hair finally just grew out!" Lyra yelped, examining the blackened, brittle ends of her hair.

Mareep snickered at the hapless due. "Mar, mar," she chided, shaking her head. _Tut, tut. _

Lyra sighed loudly. Whisking her cap off her head, she plopped onto the ground. Fanning her face, she tugged at the neck of her stick suit. It was going to be a warm day, and the stick suits, though necessary in case of a spatial rend, were particularly unforgiving when it came to heat. "Man, that was stupid. I shouldn't try to be big and bombastic to impress people. Or Mareep," she added hastily, as the small Pokémon looked affronted at her usage of the word "people". "I'm really just a girl from a country town who's pretty zany," she said.

"Mar, ma, reep," Mareep commented. _You are quite zany, Miss Soul._

She sighed loudly and flopped over. The scent of burned hair finally reached her nostrils, and she gave a disgusted groan. "Ethan and Kris always say that being zany is going to keep me from finding a man, but what's a man good for? Supposedly the world is coming to an end by the time I'm an adult anyway. Why waste it chasing a boy, huh?"

Copper sighed loudly. He moaned, "Va." _Not this again. _He knew exactly what the wacky young lady would say next, as this was close to the umpteenth time that he would hear this variation on her list of life goals.

"Instead, I will waste it chasing down Pokémon…and my dreams," she declared, raising a clenched fist toward the sky in defiance. "And maybe save the world."

Mareep exchanged glances with Copper. In their language, she asked him, "Is she…you…know…all right in the head?"

"I think so. I'm fairly certain a lot of that is bravado. A coping method, if you will," Copper said, glancing at his Trainer. When he had first become her partner, when he was just a young Cyndaquil, she had sat up many nights crying. She still sat up a lot of nights crying, but he wondered if she loved him enough to not make a fur stole out of him if he admitted that she cried often to others.

Mareep gazed at the girl and sighed. "If you tell me a tragic back story, I'll have to come with you. I'm a pushover."

With a smirk and the joy of knowing that Lyra would be pleased with his efforts, Copper began, "Well it all started off with an absentee father…"

Fifteen minutes later, Lyra Soul ran into Violet City clutching a newly-filled Quick Ball, whooping and hollering. "I CAUGHT A MAREEP!" she roared. "Once my Egg hatches, I'll have THREE POKÉMON! ETHAN HIBIKI CAN SUCK IT!"

"The world is fucking ending!" A woman shouted back through her open window, freezing Lyra in her place. "We gotta wear these stupid suits all the time and Legendaries are dead and all you can do is yell about a Mareep?"

Hardly mollified by the negative response, Lyra twirled around, tossing the Quick Ball into the air triumphantly. "I gotta show Hibiki!" she declared before tearing off toward the eastern exit of the city. "He told me I'd just scare them all off. Well, look who's wrong now! Suck it, Hibiki!" she crowed.

Violet City, if it hadn't been awake by that point, surely was rising painfully to the morning sun and cursing the young woman who so callously celebrated so early in the morning.

* * *

Fingers clacking at the keyboard, Ethan Hibiki typed in the letters: V-E-R B-R-I. The slender boy of fourteen, with glossy dark eyes and a ruffled shock of black hair, hit "ENTER" and waited for results to show up in Professor Elm's trainer database.

As he waited for the antiquated computer to run through trainers with that combination of letters in their name, Ethan gazed at the ceiling of Elm's laboratory. Patched with spare pieces of plywood in places, the place was dingy, quite frankly. The last spatial rend had done a number on it. Outside, the building was even more motley and pathetic looking; brightly-colored patches of siding covered damage and swathes of tarp covered holes in the roof. Ethan remembered how beautiful and fresh the lab had seemed when he was a child…before the apocalypse seemed to have settled like a death shroud over the world.

Ethan grabbed his mug of grayish coffee, dumped a pack of sugar in it, and sipped at it with a disgusted expression. Though he was only fourteen years old, the young man survived on the adult habit. Looking over his shoulder, he shouted, "Who made this batch? It's disgusting!"

"Me, you dingus," Kris Seeker, Lyra's adopted older sister, shouted back. Her voice was ridiculously sharp as she added. "Talk shit, get hit."

"More like make shit, get hit," Ethan muttered into his mug.

Twelve results showed up for registered Johtonese and Kantonese trainers with the letters V-E-R B-R-I in their names. Most of these names were feminine:

VERA BRIDGES, FEMALE, 39, DECEASED, 6 KANTO BADGES, NO LEAGUE ATTEMPTS

VERONICA COLBRICK, FEMALE, 14, 2 JOHTO BADGES, NO LEAGUE ATTEMPTS

VERDANDI OBRI, FEMALE, 61, 8 KANTO BADGES, 4 JOHTO BADGES, TWO LEAGUE ATTEMPTS

Likewise, the trouble was that the names began in V-E-R and the majority of the surnames used the B-R-I out of order. "This is stupid," he mumbled to himself.

Only two names were masculine:

OLIVER BRINDLE, MALE, 23, 1 JOHTO BADGE

ANVERS LOWBRICK, MALE, 17, DECEASED, 5 JOHTO BADGES

Ethan knew these results by heart. He had searched the letters dozens of times since Professor Elm was robbed by that redheaded man about five months ago. Yet, the boy wasn't sure why he kept doing it; people rarely registered with the League anymore. Someone as immoral as the redheaded man who stole Professor Elm's last Starter Pokémon would never register with that sort of organization.

"I hope Totodile is okay," he mumbled to himself, rubbing at eyes bitten with exhaustion. "I hope that jerk treats Pokémon better than he treats people."

Kris sighed loudly from across the lab. Mere seconds later, the older girl perched herself on the edge of the computer desk. She was eighteen years old but seemed older in some ways; her cheekbones rose prominently in her face and her bluish hair hung lankly around her shoulders. However, her expression of exasperation was pure teenage girl. "You need to stop obsessing," she chided. As he glowered at her, Kris poked his cheek with a frown. "Don't scowl at me. I'm serious. Ever since we were robbed, you've been so obsessed with getting Totodile back that you've enjoyed nothing."

Ethan sipped at his coffee. He found Kris's gaze following his movements, deciphering every little twitch of his muscles. "Kris, do you not get it? There are no more Starters. You and Lyra have Meganium and Copper," he said as he met her gaze defiantly. "That Totodile was Elm's. He would've given him to someone good. Not a thief."

Kris sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. You've told me like ninety times, buddy. Congrats on your high morals and all of that." She hopped off the desk and nudged his shoulder.

"I'll find him," Ethan vowed angrily.

"Sure you will. You'll have to leave the town to do that, sweetie," Kris replied as she walked away, heading toward the computer she had been working at before starting this conversation with Ethan.

"Don't be so condescending!" Ethan yelled after her.

Kris simply chuckled at him. Soon, the clacking of keys at an outdated keyboard filled the room. There was no room for further conversation. With that simple action, Kris had cut off any possible argument Ethan could start, and that frustrated the young man.

He cleared his search on the computer with some aggressive pressing of the backspace key and grabbed his mug. Sweeping across the floor, he dumped it out in the sink, left the silt-covered mug sitting on the counter, and headed toward the door. "I'm going home for the day. If Elm needs me, he can find me there."

Kris sighed loudly. "If you insist."

Ethan left and headed for home. How _dare _Kris mock his pursuit of the thief? It had been his fault that the intense, red-haired man had gotten away with Totodile. "My bond with Marill wasn't strong enough," he mumbled to himself, kicking at a pebble. "We couldn't stop him."

He kicked the pebble all the way home. The angst inside of him frustrated him; even after his dad died, he had been able to compartmentalize his negative feelings and live happily until the robbery happened—he knew he had nothing to do with his death. It was a freak accident attributed to Palkia's rage. On the other hand, the redheaded thief breaking into the lab had been something he could've stopped—and he hadn't. Ethan realized he was just a weak little boy.

The young Trainer needed to clear his name, and if Kris was going to jeer at him for it, so what? She obviously didn't understand. She wasn't proud. She didn't let criminals slip through her fingers. His adoptive older sister had no idea what was going through his head.

Pausing at the door of the Soul household with his fingers linked loosely around the doorknob, he rolled his shoulders. They were tense; Mrs. Soul, with her remarkable intuition, would feel the barely-contained rage in him.

When his heart rate calmed and his expression cooled, Ethan worked a smile onto his face and entered the house. It was best not to let everyone in on his true source of anger.

* * *

The citizens of Cherrygrove City were quite familiar with Lyra. As she passed through town, humming happily to herself about obtaining her latest teammate, she stopped to talk to a number of people. Used to her antics, most people didn't comment on her burned hair. If they did remark about it, it was always in good-natured exasperation with the young woman.

One such person was the old man who offered friendly advice to young Trainers. "Well, Miss Soul, it seems that you'll have to cut a lot of that off, won't you?"

Lyra touched her hair, thinking peeved thoughts at Copper for not controlling his temper. "I had finally just gotten it to the length I wanted, too…" she sighed. "Oh well. There are more important things to worry about."

"Indeed there are," he remarked, glancing about. The man massaged his sore hip; Lyra remembered that when she had first met him last year, he had been recovering from a broken hip and femur. The man's house, not outfitted with stick fabric support at that point, had collapsed on him during a spatial rend. "My hip's been acting up lately. I feel like we're due up for another one of those rends."

Puffing out her cheeks in a nervous gesture, Lyra chuckled. The last spatial rend, roughly six and a half months ago, had left Elm's lab vulnerable. Elm's last Starter had been stolen only a few weeks after during the process of repairing. Lyra wasn't quite ready to go through that once more, nor would her rather fiery friend Ethan. "Oh, I hope not, old man. Don't say things like that," she chided.

He shrugged nonchalantly; the gesture was much younger than the man's seventy-two years. "Don't worry your pretty little head. That damned beast Palkia has better things to do than listen to an old man comment on how nice things have been for the past few months." A shout from nearby caught his attention. "Oh, swell. My grandkids are duking it out again. I could've sworn my daughter raised them better. Have a nice week!" he wished, hobbling off in the direction of the young children.

Unable to help herself, Lyra laughed. She called, "You too!" Then, she continued on her way through town.

It took twenty minutes to walk through the tiny town—it was almost laughable that Cherrygrove was referred to as a city—due to the number of people she stopped and talked to. The day promised to be balmy; the ocean breeze was cool, but not biting, and the sun overhead provided a soft, lazy sort of sunshine. This was the sort of weather that drew people from their houses. Children played in the front yard, their expressions carefree, but Lyra noticed the drawn look on the faces of the adults. Life had grown exhausting. Money was tight from the lack of tourism in this picturesque town, which was in part due to the crime that had been skyrocketing in the eastern half of the Johto for the past six years. People were terrified of the possibility that Johtonese members of the Aether would turn up and try to recruit young, promising Trainers, or that the nefarious members of that organization would find reason to attack and hurt people and Pokémon.

It was a hard time to be alive, and so Lyra did all that she could to be friendly and open. There was no point in making life more difficult for people who already sat awake at 3 am with unblinking eyes and a pounding heart.

As Lyra passed by the Pokémon Center, a strange, rumbling feeling filled her belly, and it wasn't from hunger or nausea. It had been so long since Lyra had felt it that it took a while to register what was going on. When it occurred to her that everything seemed to be undulating and growling, she gasped.

The old man had reason to have a sore hip. Space was distorting.

Eyes wide with terror, Lyra roared, "Everyone get inside the safe houses! There's a spatial rend!"

The townspeople had already seemed to realize this. The air itself was shimmering and growing hot; Palkia's anger was distorting the natural rules of the world. Lyra took no time in making a beeline for the Pokémon Center. Every single Pokémon Center had stick fabric and other reinforcements now; the once red roofs now sported shimmering black and gray fabric, not unlike the skin-tight suit everyone was required to wear under their clothing.

She felt the rend tear at her body and her possessions, but the stick fabric protected her from the grotesque and oftentimes fatal lacerations people had once suffered at the hands of the rends. This was a powerful rend that threatened to throw her off of her feet. The stick suit prevented getting torn apart, but it didn't prevent her from getting tossed into a brick wall. With a lunge, her hand latched onto the door handle of the Pokémon Center door. She threw it open, slid in the doorway sideways as space distorted the door into a jagged, potentially dangerous shape, and she threw herself into the static space of the Pokémon Center.

Collapsing against the wall, she held a hand to her chest, fighting to catch her breath. She had sprinted hard to return to the Pokémon Center and avoid the dangers of the spatial rend. With a wry, winded grin, she noticed that many others had the same idea; the place was crawling with people. Most of them had gotten there sooner; they clearly had been leerier of strange sensations their body experienced before a spatial rend. "Well, good to see everyone here is safe," she gasped as they stared at her.

Nurse Joy stood behind the counter and watched her with a strange concoction of amusement, relief, and sheer terror. "It's good to see that you're safe, actually. That door nearly impaled you."

Lyra finally caught her breath and stood, moving as far away from the door as she possibly could. "It'd take a little more than that to kill me, I think." She dropped into a seat next to a tall man with the hood of his black and red jacket tugged low over his face. "That was like the first one in six months, right?"

"Six months, two weeks, and one day," an elderly Kantonese woman muttered on the other side of the room. "I thought that maybe those would finally stop."

"No such luck," muttered the hooded man next to Lyra. His voice was younger than his slouched, tired position looked. She estimated that he was about twenty at oldest; his voice was just insolent and nasal enough to be a teenager boy's voice.

Lyra sighed and settled deeply into her seat. She must have accidentally leaned into Copper's Pokeball, for the Quilava sprang free and onto the floor in front of her. When he looked around with a confused expression, Lyra muttered, "There was another rend. We're stuck for a while."

"Qui," he replied, clambering into her lap. _Well, that sucks._

The hooded man seemed to take interest in Quilava. Lyra glanced at the hooded man and ran her fingers over Copper's back. "His name is Copper," she said, pointing to her Starter with a free hand. "I've had him for a long time."

"He's a Shiny," he commented.

Lyra raised her eyebrows. "Really?" Her status in a small, secluded country town had left her with a lack of knowledge about outlandish Pokémon. Copper was the only Pokémon of the Cyndaquil line she had ever encountered.

The hooded man laughed harshly, startling Lyra and everyone present. "Haven't you ever seen another Quilava? They're blue, not brown," he retorted. His voice was callous, and it bit at Lyra unpleasantly. It would have been a nice voice if it weren't so condescendingly cold.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Well, excuse me. I'm just a country girl and no one gets Starters anymore these days. There's no need to be so sharp," she scolded him.

"What are you, my mother?" he asked, turning to face her for the first time. Though his hood shielded his eyes from view, strands of bright red hair fell free of the hood.

Lyra raised her eyebrows. "A redhead in the Johto, huh? Are you a Shiny, too?"

He quickly swept his hair back into his hood and glared at her. The light caught his irises, and Lyra noticed that his eyes were the same color as his hair.

A description Ethan had once given about the Totodile thief ran through her mind—_red-haired, red-eyed, tall, brutal, knowledgeable._

She tried not to let her shock show on her face. How many tall, brutal redheads who seemed fairly knowledgeable about Pokémon ran around the Johto, anyway? Why was he so close to the scene of the crime when there were still people avidly looking for him? Hiding her surprise, she shot a wry smile at him. Outside, the eerie twisting, crackling noises of distorted space continued.

For now, she was trapped with the thief. And once the spatial rend was over, she intended to take him back to Newbark Town. Ethan would be ecstatic to finally get that justice he so longed for.

* * *

As the plans had allowed for, the cryostasis chambers were massive. At times, Steven forgot how large they were, even though he knew that their contents needed rather vast chambers to hold them.

It was the chamber to the east of Lavaridge Town that Steven stood by, peering in at the Legendary Groudon. He had once seen the large red Legendary, back when Brendan and his friend May were both in their mid-teens and he had still found the idea of being the Champion of the Hoenn League pleasant. Now, up close, where he could count individuals scales through the frosted glass, the wonder was lost.

Groudon looked like a well-preserved corpse as opposed to a slumbering beast that had needed to be tamed.

Around him, scientists flitted about, sharing data and compiling reports. This cave, converted into a high-functioning lab underground, had become something of a headquarters for those working to solve the mysteries of the world that was being torn apart by angry Legendaries and the misguided Aether.

One such researcher was May Birch, the famous Professor Birch's daughter. It was this young, sandy-haired woman, with her unevenly-cut locks tied up in a red bandana, that approached that Steven currently. As she stood at his side, she peered through the frosted glass. "Have you heard from Brendan lately?" she asked quietly, her voice crackling from disuse. Steven suspected that she had spent most of the day doing data entry or computer research.

Remembering that May asked a question and he had been staring at her, he turned away from the glass to face her. "Fuertes hasn't really been talking to me much. Why ask?"

She glanced around furtively. Taking a few steps forward, she straightened Steven's tie. This action shocked him, as May was not known for being particularly affectionate, until she brought her lips close to his ear, close enough to whisper, "I think he's infiltrating Aether."

Forcing himself to retain composure at the revelation, Steven simply raised his eyebrows at the younger Trainer. "How? He's so well-known. His face was everywhere for so long," he replied quickly, folding his arms across his chest.

May sighed loudly, scratching at her neck. "Well, he grew a beard."

"What?"

"You heard me. He grew a beard," May repeated, rolling her eyes. "It's straggly and gross. It's not the kind of facial hair you want to see on your twenty-one year old neighbor."

Steven couldn't help but chuckle a little at the thought of Brendan with a beard. He turned once more to face Groudon in cryostasis. "I hope he's careful," Steven said, massaging his jaw. Sparse stubble scratched at his hand. "That group is not kind to...uh...people like that."

He watched May's reflection in the glass as she stood awkwardly, wondering what more to say. Though she had matured much from when he had first met her, she still wasn't much of a people person. More often than not he still found her talking to her Sceptile instead of her coworkers when she became particularly stressed. "May," he said, catching her gaze through the reflection on the glass. "Do you think we'll ever get to wake Kyogre and Groudon again?"

After a moment's silence, May frankly responded, "Maybe when Hell freezes over." Then, without as much as a goodbye, she returned to work once more.

Steven couldn't help but smile sadly at what he might have once seen as pessimism coming from May. How stupid was it to ask if they would ever revive the two Legendaries? _Plenty stupid, _Steven thought with a sigh. Could they even exist consciously without Rayquaza to soothe their conflict? He pressed his hand to the glass for just a moment before peeling away. A warm handprint staining the cryostasis chamber behind him, he walked from the room and fished out his Pokeball for Skarmory. It was about time he checked on Kyogre.

* * *

"Hello, sir. Welcome to Devon Corp's Mauville City Branch. May I help you?" the receptionist asked, without looking up from her computer screen.

Brendan Fuertes, doing his best to look like anything but Brendan Fuertes, gave the girl his best serpentine, superiority-filled smile as he leaned over the counter. In Mauville City, a secret Aether headquarters had been set up under the guise of a Devon Corp building-Brendan had yet to figure out if Devon Corp knew about the true, clandestine nature of this building. With some elbow grease, sheer luck, and a few long nights of stakeouts with only Unovan gangster rap and leftover curry to keep him company, the powerful young Trainer had figured out where it existed and how to get in. "Actually, I'm looking to join Aether."

The blonde woman looked up, one eyebrow arched imperiously. She was an exceptionally beautiful woman; her dark eye makeup was smudged perfectly in Kalosian fashion and her pouty lips were painted bright red. It was clear that she wasn't impressed by Brendan; he couldn't help but silently admit to himself that he looked despicable. Spending the past four years at sea doing research and defending Kyogre's cryostasis chamber left his skin leathery from the sun and his face too gaunt for his age. Add the beard and badly-buzzed hair on top of that, and Brendan was probably the least appealing person to have ever walked through that door. "It's not a daily thing for people show up here asking to join this organization," she commented. "In fact, no one on the outside knows that this is an Aether headquarters," she added in accusatory tones.

"If you want to join badly enough, let me tell you…you'll do just about anything to get in," Brendan said, his tone sharper than he had wanted it to be. His beard itched. He wanted to shave it off. His head felt bare without his knit hat. Brendan felt like a poseur, but mostly he felt like giving up on this operation because he was ridiculously uncomfortable.

It was then that he heard the lock click in the door behind him, shutting him into this dark, albeit ridiculously modern, room. The receptionist stood up, a pair of Pokeballs in each hand. "If you'll do just about anything to get in, you better wipe the floor with my Pokémon."

A Salamence and a Milotic appeared, gazing at Brendan aggressively. Simply allowing himself a smirk, Brendan sent out two Pokémon he had trained specifically to be his disguise Pokémon: Delcatty and Tropius. "It'll be fun," Brendan said with a loud guffaw. He needed a reward for the acting he was doing, quite honestly.

It was a simple battle. The woman was too aggressive; she would rather attack viciously than play to her Pokémon's strength. Brendan turned the room sunny with a Sunny Day from Tropius and then infatuated the male Milotic with his female Delcatty. From there on out, it was decisive. Brendan destroyed them. He used Solar Beam to defeat the Milotic instantly and then he worked on chipping away at the powerful Salamence. He was merciless, intelligent, and brutal about it. He didn't use his usual sensitivity; it would give his true identity away.

The receptionist raised her eyebrows. "Not bad." She returned her Pokémon to their respective balls and eyed Brendan. "What is your name?"

"Brett Parr," he lied easily.

She stepped neatly back to her desk, tottering on heels that had to be at least four inches high. Clearly that wasn't a natural position for her to be in, judging by her uncomfortable walk. "I will call an executive. He will interview you, and then he can figure out what he wants to do with you."

Before Brendan could help himself, he said, "You know, your Pokémon are very powerful, but there are better ways to battle with them than just using brute force."

"I suppose there are. It's just the most intimidating tactic," she replied flatly.

Brendan wasn't used to being turned down so sharply by another person like that. "Well, if you insist," he said, shrugging.

She eyed him with barely-contained viciousness. "Don't talk down to anyone. You're not even close to being in yet. Wait here." The receptionist disappeared down a narrow hallway. A door slammed shut behind her. Brendan realized he was essentially trapped in the lobby of this building at the mercy of Aether.

If everything went badly enough, he supposed that he could blast his way out with his Pokémon. But he didn't want what he was doing to go badly. He wanted to infiltrate, discover motives, and then do whatever he could to tear this organization down from the inside in the most painful of ways.

In the mean time, he sat down on a chair against the wall and tugged at his beard. The world outside was crackling and rustling; another spatial rend seemed to be happening. No matter. He was safe here, in the loosest sense of that word.

It was Aether that needed to watch out for him.

* * *

_A/N: Hello, hello. Yesterday was my last day of school. Next year is my last year of school before going to college. Where did the time go?_

_Anyway, here I am, updating once more. I had part of this written initially to be part of the prologue, but then I decided against having a long prologue. So I wrote about 3,000 more words last night and voila! A chapter! I'm really excited about this fic, mostly because I have lots of time to write it and lots of ideas. Also, with more perspectives to work from, writer's block should be harder to achieve. I get bored when there are only a couple viewpoints to work with._

_Yes, so my Johto group focuses on Lyra and Ethan, with intrusions from Kris and Silver (obviously the minute Lyra figured out that Mr. Redhead was the thief we knew that was Silver). Hoenn focuses on Brendan and Steven, with some input from May. This might actually be one of the first fics I do where the romance isn't a big part of the plot, actually, even though I do have this partially classified as a Soulsilvershipping fic with a few other ships (like White and N being engaged and all) that show up here and there._

_A lot of people think that Kris and Lyra shouldn't exist in the same fic, but why not? They're both in the gameverse. Plus, Kris was the first playable female character in Pokemon games; I think she deserves a little love. There's no need to hate one or the other._

_So Lyra's mother has taken in both Kris and Ethan (obviously). I'm still deciding if there's any relation between Lyra and Kris in this fic, since they're so similar looking. In my other large fic, Lyra and Kris were cousins, but I don't know if I want to do that again._

_Brendan growing a beard might seem tactical and all, but it also stems from a REALLY long and bad inside joke and the person who started this had better discover this fic before I force them to read it myself._

_So leave a review. Be honest about what you think, as this is the first fic of this nature that I've done. Feedback and different viewpoints are always appreciated, and I like answering questions and talking about different interpretations on characters._


	3. Mortality

**Note: This chapter has also been edited, and that's mostly because I published this at 1 am after being awake for about twenty-two hours and thought it was a good idea to publish without editing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But if I did, I'd bring back the tomboyish/athletic designs for May in the Ruby and Sapphire remakes.**

* * *

"I think the coast is clear," Nurse Joy announced roughly twenty minutes after the ordeal began.

Lyra heaved a sigh of relief; though she had Copper and Lumi—her newly-named Mareep—for company, she hadn't liked the intense glower she had felt from the redheaded thief beside her. Like everyone else, he was currently rising to his feet, preparing to head out.

It was now or never. She needed to rope this boy in and take him back to Newbark Town to explain himself; plus, it would shut Ethan up, right?

As he headed toward the door, Lyra made her move. She returned Copper and Lumi to their respective Pokeballs before standing up. "Excuse me," she started, following him. "You said that Copper is a Shiny?" she asked him. She hoped that her huge brown eyes looked sweet and innocent; maybe that would be enough to catch this hardliner off-guard.

He eyed her strangely. Lyra had no idea how he wasn't collapsing from heatstroke in a heavy sweatshirt and cargo pants like that over a stick suit; shouldn't she be the one to look at him in a fishy manner? "Yeah, didn't you listen the first time?"

"If I hadn't listened the first time I wouldn't even know that Copper is apparently a Shiny," Lyra replied with a large smile, although she sort of felt like punching him in the throat. "You seem pretty knowledgeable about Pokémon."

"What of it?" he asked warily.

She simply beamed at him. _I think I'm laying it on a little thick, _she thought to herself as she replied, "I want you to help me figure something out."

"No," he answered sharply. "I'm not helping some weird girl I just met." Yet, he stayed rooted in his place, apparently made curious by the expression on her face.

Lyra had her trump card. With a furtive glance around the emptying Pokémon Center, she gently removed her bag from over her shoulder. It, too, was made out of stick fabric, although this fabric was tinted a golden yellow color. How cheery. She tugged out the Egg.

A few weeks ago, Professor Elm had handed this to her, saying, "It won't hatch for anyone else. You might as well give it a shot, huh?" He seemed to have an idea of what was inside of it, but he refused to tell anyone exactly what he was thinking on the matter.

Aside from him, no one had any idea what kind of Egg it was. The white egg, with blue and red markings, seemed to have no intentions to hatch anytime soon to reveal the Pokémon incubating inside of it. As she held it in her arms, she looked up at the hooded boy. "Do you know what might be inside of it? No one seems to know."

His eyes noticeably grew a little wider. He knew exactly what was in that egg, as Lyra had guessed. Glancing around, he leaned down—more like crouched down to reach Lyra's diminutive height—and whispered, "Where the hell are you getting Pokémon like this?"

Knowing that she had to play her cards carefully here, Lyra took a second to think. She couldn't outright say Professor Elm's lab. This boy had to be the thief, the one who had left behind a portion of some sort of broken ID with the letters V-E-R B-R-I on it. Would he really return to Newbark Town willingly?

Lyra simply gave a smile. "It's a secret. See ya!" She slipped away from him and trotted toward the door.

"Hey! Wait a second! You can't just say that and run!" the thief retorted indignantly, trotting after her.

Lyra tossed her burned pigtails as she exited the Pokémon Center. "I can't just tell anyone that," she said, glancing around town. The damage from the spatial rend was minimal; a few trees were missing limbs and someone's garage had caved in. In other words, what she was about to do was remarkably easy due to the lack of debris.

She would have the redhead follow her through the wilderness for answers. The thief had to be close to 6'3 and seemed fairly solid; even with Copper and Lumi there was no way on Earth that she would be able to manhandle him back to Newbark Town. With nothing more than an apologetic smile, she charged off.

He did exactly what she expected and took off after her. Cursing, he called, "Seriously! Where did you get that egg?"

Lyra wanted to laugh loudly as she ran. Hopefully, in his stubbornness to find answers, he wouldn't notice which way she was taking him.

* * *

Although the Soul household was lively and crammed impossibly full with orphaned and misplaced children and their Pokémon, Ethan still managed to sneak away to the room he shared with both Lyra and Kris and clambered into the top bunk. Exhausted beyond a point of caring, he simply kicked off his shoes and tore his hat off of his head. He didn't bother removing his stick suit; it would have been too much work to take off his outer layer of clothing first. Plus, a spatial rend had rolled through for the first time in a few months; it seemed like a bad idea to take it off.

As his eyelids grew heavy, the door swung open. Ethan forced his eyes open to peer at Mrs. Soul, who had come in with a laundry basket balanced on one hip and an Aipom that belonged to one of her current three foster daughters. She was a small woman with powerful hips and dark, clearly Johtonese eyes. "What are you sleeping so early in the day for?" Chiyo scolded him as she set the laundry basket on top of the dresser.

"Can't sleep at night," he mumbled.

Setting Aipom on the bunk with Ethan and kicking his shoes under the bed, she stood on her tiptoes to examine him in a motherly way. With this sort of curiosity on her face, she looked so much like Lyra that for a second he had forgotten that he'd irritated his foster mother. "There's no use in sleeping during the day," she warned him. "I don't care if you did all of the housework and lab work that you were supposed to do; you'll teach the girls bad habits sleeping during the day."

"Tamiko, Ren, and Ellie have so many bad habits they can't possibly learn anything more from me," Ethan retorted, flipping onto his stomach and burying his face in his pillow.

Chiyo sighed loudly. "The difference here is that they're breaking out of them. You're just constantly adding new ones."

"Everything will be okay once I get my redemption," he mumbled into the pillow. He felt Aipom clambering onto his back, rubbing her small hands through his hair carelessly.

There was nothing but silence for a moment; he knew what he said had frustrated Chiyo. Like everyone else, she was growing tired of his thirst to catch this thief and take back that Totodile. "Ethan," she said quietly, "it isn't healthy to obsess like this. That thief, if he knows what's good for him, is long gone with that Totodile."

"I'll still find him. And I'll still destroy him."

Chiyo groaned. "Please sleep. Maybe it'll shut you up about this vengeance of yours for a while."

She took Aipom with her as she left the room. The door slammed shut, leaving Ethan alone in the humid room. With great effort, he inched to the other side of the room and cracked open a window; it was too warm. Ethan flopped onto the bed once more and closed his eyes. Sleep began to surround him in a comforting aura as a breeze trickled across his face.

* * *

If Ethan had been awake, he would have known that there was no breeze trickling across his face. The air movement came from a small pink Pokémon that had slid in stealthily through the window.

The Pokémon sniffed at the boy before recoiling in disgust, tail lashing irately. Once upon a time, this boy had been pure and sweet—perhaps with a tacky sense of humor. Something dark and revolting had coiled up inside of him as of late, and it was something like cold vengeance, deep self-pity, or a defeated sort of fury.

However, in the room, there was an aroma of purity that was quite enticing.

Nosing around, the Pokémon examined the room. There was a bunk bed, where the sleeping boy occupied the top bunk. The bottom bunk had rumpled sheets. The Pokémon sniffed at them. Images flashed through its head: a girl with blue hair and a sharp mind, but the saddest of smiles.

Closer, but it wasn't quite it.

Across the room, there sat a daybed constructed from some kind of dark wood, next to dresser with a laundry basket on top of it. It was neatly-made, draped in maroon and white sheets. The Pokémon drifted over to this and took a whiff of the smell. Eyes widening, the Pokémon recoiled.

A very pure and sweet young woman slept in that bed.

The Pokémon jetted away from the bed and wriggled out the cracked window. It was time to do some observing.

* * *

Lyra hadn't expected to feel remorse for tricking the thief into pursuing her all the way to Newbark Town, but that was precisely what she felt.

Decked in that heavy jacket and clunky boots over his stick suit, he shouldn't have been able to run nearly as far as he had in the moderately wooded path between Cherrygrove City and Newbark Town. It was a bright summer day, after all. In spite of consistently wearing such a suit with minimal layers over top of it during the summer, she had started to feel a little hot at the collar. The denim romper she had so thoughtlessly put on this morning was also cutting into her movements.

Perhaps it was time to cool down.

So, as the thief began to lose his speed, Lyra decided to be merciful. She neared a fallen tree and hopped up onto it, crossing her legs and fixing her best friendly smile upon her face. After about thirty seconds of waiting, the exhausted thief finally caught up to her. "What the hell?" he demanded, wheezing. "Why just charge off like that?"

Lyra shrugged. "Why not charge off like that? Maybe I'm testing you."

"I'm feeling pretty damned testy," he snarled, approaching her. "What is this even about? Do you even know where rare Pokémon are or is this just a ruse?"

Lyra felt deeply guilty and conflicted suddenly. Troubles of worrying about the redhead's wellbeing aside, she also had disliked her use of deceit. What he had accomplished six months ago had been fairly deceitful and clearly lacked good morals, but what did that make her when she had made him chase her out here like this?

Certainly no better than him.

She sighed. "Look, I need to be honest with you. I know where there were rare Pokémon and all, but…" Looking up earnestly, she found him staring at her, waiting for whatever she was going to say. "You're the thief from Elm's lab."

He groaned. "I should've known." Much to Lyra's surprise, he simply collapsed to the ground, gazing up at the sky with a rather intense look in his bright red eyes. "Too exhausted to even flee. This is fucking stupid."

Lyra refused to take advantage of the situation as he lay there. It wasn't fair. Nothing she had done that day was fair, and she couldn't help but begrudge herself. "Look, I'm not going to drag you in. I really don't want to be dishonest. I can't be dishonest. I don't know how you managed to steal a Pokémon like that and walk away with a clear conscience, but I won't ask."

The boy dug into his pockets and came clear with a Pokeball. Pushing the button with his thumb, he released not a Totodile, but a brawny Croconaw with broad jaws. The Pokeball sailed through the air at Lyra, and she caught it just before it could rearrange the topography of her face. "If you want him back so badly, just take him or whatever and leave me here," he growled.

Before Lyra could respond, the Croconaw gave an indignant cry. "Naw! Croco!" _Don't just sell me off like that, you piece of shit! What about all of this training? Did you steal me for nothing?!_

Lyra sat dumbfounded as the human and the Pokémon seemed to argue about Croconaw being given up. In fact, what was strange to her was that Silver seemed to have a fairly clear understanding of what his Pokémon was saying—was he that proficient when it came to Pokémon that he could even understand their language to some extent?

It didn't take long for Lyra to become unnerved and interrupt the Pokémon and his Trainer. "E-excuse me," she stuttered, trying to find her words once more, "I…I can't even really take Croconaw away from you. He doesn't seem to want to leave."

"Croc," the Croconaw commented. _No shit, Sherlock. _

The thief frowned at her, propping himself up on his elbows to better get a look at her. His hood fell, revealing a long, tangled mess of garnet red hair. "Holy shit. You're such a pushover," he stated simply.

"I just don't have the right," Lyra replied, examining her hands. Her eyes flitted up to meet the thief's. "What's your name?"

He hesitated. This boy didn't want to give it away to her, but something apparently had gotten the better of him. Simply, he said, "Silver."

Slightly nonplussed by this pale, redheaded boy whose name was Silver, she simply smiled at him. "I'm Lyra," she replied. Releasing Copper and Lumi, she added, "You already met these two already."

Lumi eyed the Croconaw nervously. "Reep, mar, eep." _He looks like he could kill a man with one thumb._

Silver laughed, and Lyra was surprised by the lack of malevolence in the sound. "That Mareep of yours has an interesting way of phrasing things."

"Do…do you understand them?" Lyra asked, her eyes wide. "The Pokémon, I mean?"

He sighed and bushed his hair away from his ear. "Technology, you idiot."

There was a tiny black device lodged into the shell of his ear. With a delighted laugh, Lyra asked, "Is that a translator? They've invented those now?"

"No, it's a fashion statement," he said sarcastically.

"How does it work?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you," he responded, apparently exasperated by Lyra's line of questioning. Without much warning, he rose to his feet and strode over to her, glowering downward rather imperiously for a lawbreaker. "If you're not dragging me back there you better not tell them you saw me."

Lyra groaned. "I can't promise that."

"Honesty is for stupid people."

"Well then maybe I'm stupid, but lying and stealing is for assholes," Lyra remarked, rising to her full height. She met five feet and one inch even in shoes—he was over a foot taller than her and it was rather impressive. Gazing up at him, she added, "So try and prove me wrong."

As she peeled away and started off toward Newbark Town, Silver made her halt with a simple question: "Do you really not know what's in that egg?"

"Nope. And you're probably not gonna tell me, so I'm not going to stick around and beg for an answer," Lyra responded, unable to keep herself from smiling.

Silver said nothing more. She took that as a sign that he wasn't about to divulge more information about it. Without looking over her shoulder, she waved. "Take care of that Croconaw. Maybe you're a thief, but he seems to like you."

She walked away. At first, Lyra thought it was remarkable that she was doing so; she had wanted nothing more than to turn this boy in earlier? Yet there she was, walking away, helping the tiny Lumi crest a fallen tree and allow Copper to crawl onto her shoulders like a heavy stole. Sparing a glance over her shoulder, she saw that the redhead and his stolen Croconaw had disappeared.

As she traveled through the woods, she realized how difficult it would be to cover up that she had run into Silver. "Ethan is going to kick my butt, isn't he?" she asked of her two Pokémon.

"Reep!" _I don't know him, but I hope he doesn't!_

"Lava." _Damned straight._

Though Lyra didn't have a fancy translator earpiece, she understood the gist of her Pokémon's responses. They were nearing Newbark Town now. With a lopsided smile, she sighed. "Well, hopefully he won't be too rough. It's been a wild day, after all."

* * *

The Aether executive talked a lot. She asked a lot of questions. She said a lot of smart things. Clearly she wanted a lot out of him.

Brendan figured that, in her eyes, it seemed like he had a lot to give.

He told her everything she wanted to hear, even though he hated the answers he gave. In jaded tones, he spoke of how it had "ruined everything", cryogenically freezing Kyogre and Groudon. How human were worthless interlopers. How Aether had inspired him to rise above himself.

The executive simply smiled, nodding. She was not pretty like the receptionist; she was built like a tank, with broad shoulders, meaty arms, and powerful legs and hips. Conversely, this woman's waist resembled that of a Beedrill's in its narrowness. With dark, ebony-colored skin and short hair to complete the look, she was absolutely terrifying.

Finally, after the long series of questions had ebbed, she extended a broad, calloused hand to Brendan. "Welcome to the organization."

Forcing a smile, Brendan accepted her hand and gave it a firm pump. Regardless of its terrifying looks, her grip was actually quite gentle. He certainly hadn't expected that with the combination of her appearance and the organization she belonged to. "From this day forward," she said, releasing his hand, "you will sleep in the recruit dormitories and follow all orders given to you from those above you. Until you've risen above rookie status, you will have no contact with the outside world. Do you understand?"

"Clear as a bell," he said. May and Steven would tear his throat out whenever he was finally allowed to contact them again, but what was a little mutual discontent among friends?

As she led him to his new "home", she once again talked a lot. She asked a lot of questions. She expected a lot of him.

Brendan knew that she didn't expect the betrayal he had planned.

* * *

In Unova, far from the other regions, night had fallen.

White used to think of herself as a night person until she had become associated with the stick suit and stick fabric projects. She and Bianca, along with other assorted female Trainers, Gym Leaders, and Elite Four members, used to go to clubs and restaurants in Castelia City and hang out until three in the morning without repercussions. Now White could hardly stay awake past ten without needing a large dosage of some caffeinated beverage to stay awake.

Laying on the couch in her Virbank City apartment, she tried to keep awake by doing mental math. Maybe Cheren had always been the intellectual one (and certainly the better student in school, as White had typically been hotheaded and the sort of girl to pick fights frequently) in her friend group growing up, but in some ways she had been more logical than him, enjoying both number puzzles and tricky battling with her Pokémon. His irrational obsession with strength, particularly in battling, had oftentimes eclipsed his ability to think and left White to make decisions for her friend group.

Now that White was engaged to a man who was probably more mathematically inclined than her, the math cropped up a lot, particularly when he was absent.

N was supposed to return tonight, and White wanted to stay awake for him, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

She began to mentally factor large polynomials. An equation with a leading coefficient of five raised to the power of six would certainly keep her mind awake, wouldn't it?

White thought she had figured out three factors when a long, warm form stretched out next to her. Realizing she had dozed off and N had let himself in, she struggled to turn over to face her fiancé. The tall man looked exhausted; his gray-green eyes were closed and his hair draped lankly around his face. "N?" she mumbled sleepily.

He opened one eye. "That is me," he replied, wrapping his arms around her.

"I…" she trailed off before cursing. How had she fallen asleep so easily in the middle of factoring? Restarting her sentence, she said, "I thought I was awake."

"Stay asleep," he mumbled, pulling her close. "I think you will enjoy sleep much better than reality right now."

That woke her up instantly. N only said things of that nature when something terrible had happened. "What's going on?" she demanded, tearing free of his embrace to sit up.

"Please sleep before we talk," he pleaded. He quickly assumed a seating position to match hers, but she assumed that it was mostly to avoid being looked down upon as he watched her with deeply saddened wide eyes.

She sighed loudly at his Lillipup eyes. "If it's that bad, N, I want to know," White retorted, not at all regretting that her voice had taken a sharp tone.

He sucked in a deep breath before replying, "My most recent travels were terrifying. I heard much, as the Pokémon have been talking. They've been saying absolutely terrifying things."

"Like what?"

N wrapped White tightly into his arms. His voice tremulous, he whispered, "They say Arceus has abandoned us all because our sins are too grave to forget, and the world will end."

"If that wasn't already obvious in this godless world," White murmured, burying her face into N's chest. If this was all he meant to say, she wanted to go back to snoozing on the couch.

"No, White. I mean that Arceus has literally left us all," he replied. "We will all die."

White didn't free herself from his embrace this time. She stared at the soft black fabric of his turtleneck sweater. It rubbed against her cheek, smelling faintly of hay and lye soap like a farm boy, and in that moment of fathomable mortality, it felt like everything. "Any idea how long we have?" she asked. "Or were they just saying we would die?"

She felt him shrug. Moments later, she felt his hands on her face, gently tipping her head up to look at him. Their eyes met, and White saw nothing but deep concern on his face. "It probably will not be long," he admitted. "We can only do so much, and we've come very close to that limit now. The stick suits and fabrics have been so helpful, but a massive, long-lived spatial rend could kill us all with flying debris. The ground we stand on could be destroyed. The water could dry up. Soon we will just die."

His words cut into White. "But the world can't end. We still haven't gotten married," she replied indignantly as she flashed her engagement ring at him. "You couldn't have just spent money on a rock for nothing."

N's eyes seemed moist. He kissed her, quieting any protests she might have had to what he reported to her, and he kept kissing her until their faces were wet and stained with salt. White hadn't realized that she was crying up until that point—she thought only N had been crying. She threw her arms around his neck and broke off the kiss, burying her face in his shoulder. "I love you," she whispered to him.

"I love you as well," he replied.

Wiping her tears away, she growled, "Arceus better get his ass back here and help us fix this all."

"That would be nice," N said, but White knew he didn't believe it would happen.

She tilted her face toward the ceiling and closed her eyes. Tonight she would grieve the idea that the world would end and she would likely never have that gorgeous wedding with N that she had promised her family and friends. Tomorrow, she would think. What was the purpose in accepting a fate that grim? She had defeated the odds before; hadn't she changed N's mind? Hadn't she torn Plasma to bits? Hadn't she searched the world over for N and his Reshiram?

Maybe it seemed like the world was ending, but there had to be a solution. There had been a solution to everything in her life so far, so what made this problem so different?

_The stakes are higher, _she realized, turning her head to the side to kiss the hollow beneath N's ear, _but the reward is so much more important._

* * *

_A/N: Hiya! It's very late. Please forgive any glaring mistakes; I'll probably reload this chapter later on if there's anything particularly ill-written in this chapter. I couldn't get one of my editors (more like glorified reader) to look over this for me tonight because the one I needed is at the pool party I ended up ditching out on like two hours early. So I'd like to publish it now since I probably won't be home at all tomorrow and possibly Monday. I don't want to make you guys wait for too long when I already have it here. _

_Ah yes, the whole "God has abandoned us" thing, except with the Pokemon God. How bourgeoisie of me. _

_I didn't find a good place for Steven and May this chapter, nor have Blue and Leaf made any appearances since the prologue. I should probably fix that at some point. _

_I've been asked if I ship Steven/May or Blue/Leaf. I can say that I can ship May and Steven with just about anyone, so yeah, of course I could ship these two together. In the context of this story, their relationship is probably more like an awkward and complicated friendship than anything romantic. But I do not ship Blue and Leaf, so their appearances here will just be very platonic and probably more like a sibling relationship than anything else (kind of like Ethan with Kris)._

_Yeah, Silver gets the cool tech. Lyra begrudges the liar for getting such cool stuff. It's okay, though, because Lyra will get COOLER STUFF because how dare the grumpy male character with an attitude problem get all the love and cool stuff in life._

_I can't wait to write the next few chapters; I haven't been this excited about a fic in ages. School really killed my spark this year (and that better not happen again during my senior year or I might just cry)._

_Leave a review if you wish. It's great to hear different opinions and it's also good to see both new and old readers of my stuff. A special shoutout to the three reviews I've received thus far on these past two chapters; ten for you three reviewers, you go three reviewers._


	4. Information

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But if I did, there would be a fossil Pokemon based off of a Smilodon because Smilodons are BAMFs.**

* * *

Steven had no idea why he had bothered to visit Kyogre in its cryostasis chamber at the bottom of the ocean. It had been the same as visiting the underground lab near Lavaridge Town—frosted glass, corpse-like Legendary, an immense feeling of sad hopelessness smashing his chest in.

He wanted to return to Mossdeep City, to his humble little home and sleep, but as he stood in the shoals above the underwater cryogenics lab, he suddenly realized he didn't want to be alone. Though his Armaldo stood next to him, gazing at his Trainer expectantly, he felt utterly alone under the expanse of deep blue sky.

Digging his PokeNav from his pocket, he dialed the first number that came up, even though the person he dialed wasn't necessarily the friendliest.

"You just saw me like three hours ago," May protested as she picked up. She sounded huffy; he had likely interrupted at a bad time. "What do you want?"

"When are you off?" he asked, absentmindedly dragging his fingers down Armaldo's rough carapace. "You seem tired. Let's grab dinner or something."

She sighed loudly. "Damn it, Stone. Are you asking me out on a date? Plus, it's like noon. We call that 'lunch' around here."

"No, it's not a date," he groaned. As attractive as the researcher physically was, her oftentimes abrasive and socially awkward ways of dealing with people were not that attractive to Steven. Armaldo seemed to snicker at him; Steven put his fingers to his lips in the hopes of reminding the formerly fossilized Pokémon to keep it down. Collecting himself once more, the former Champion said, "I'm tired. You're tired. I don't want to be alone right now, and you seemed out of it. We could kill a few Taillow with one stone. It's nothing fancy or romantic—I promise."

For a moment, she was silent. He wondered if she had hung up on him. However, before he could check to see if that was the case, May responded, "Just as long as we don't go to that one Unovan-themed diner in Lilycove City, I'd be okay with getting food."

Steven laughed. "How about that Johtonese restaurant in Mossdeep City?"

"Sure. I'm off in about an hour. Where are you?"

"Kyogre's place," he replied.

"Okay. Well, by the time you get here and meet up with me, I should be off and out of my work clothes. See you then." She hung up, leaving Steven alone in the ocean.

Armaldo glanced at him with an obvious smirk. "Mal arm, do mal," he said blithely. _You've got yourself a date there, you sly Mightyena Mr. Stone._

Though Steven didn't have one of those new-fangled translators invented by the Silph Company, he understood that what Armaldo had said was somewhat inappropriate. "You're technically millions of years old and you have the mental age of a two year old," he grumbled. He returned the Armaldo to his Pokeball and called out his Skarmory, who hovered gingerly above the saltwater.

"Lavaridge Town," he said. "It seems that May and me are going for din—lunch," Steven corrected himself.

He clambered onto Skarmory's back, and they took off for Lavaridge Town.

* * *

"What happened to your hair?"

Lyra had barely walked in through the door when one of her younger foster sisters, Tamiko, popped that question from the kitchen table in the middle of eating a cup of instant ramen. She suddenly remembered her crisped hair and sighed. "Copper had a temper tantrum," she said, giving her Starter a pointed look.

"Quil!" he griped. _You insulted me!_

Lyra gestured to Lumi. "So…you notice that my hair was burned, but you can't even acknowledge that I have a Mareep now?"

The younger girl shrugged. She was about nine years old, Johtonese, and had little brain-mouth connection. Oftentimes her priorities in thinking caught Lyra off-guard: for example, prioritizing scorched pigtails over a cute Mareep. "I don't know. Do you have to cut them off?"

Solemnly, she nodded. "My hair won't grow right if I leave a bunch of burned stuff hanging at the end."

"Tragic," Tamiko replied. Lyra gaped at the girl while Lumi and Copper giggled. How could such a young girl say such callous things? Her older sister, Ren, was twelve and had just entered an age in which her primary language was sarcasm, but for Tamiko to begin so young…

There truly was no hope for her.

Lyra sighed and stumped toward the stairs. Copper and Lumi followed her as she traversed the stairs and entered the bathroom. Digging through the drawers under the sink, she emerged with a pair of scissors. Examining her sunburned and singed reflection, she sighed. "Goodbye, hair. It was an honor to serve with you."

Lumi turned to Copper. "Serve?" she asked him.

"Don't ask me what she means by that. The bravado is a coping mechanism, remember?" he reminded her.

Lyra removed her cap and released her hair from her pigtails. A few blackened clumps of hair fell from her head as she did so. Though the sight disturbed her, it wasn't nearly as bad as the last time Copper had accidentally burned her hair in a fit of agitation; she could get away with cutting her hair just a little longer than chin length this time. With a loud and drawn-out sigh, she brought the scissors to her hair and got to work.

About halfway through removing burned chunks of her hair, Ren and Ellie walked past the bathroom. They peered in curiously as she snipped a long, scorched chunk from the back of her head. "It's still not as bad as last time," Ellie commented, her blue eyes wide. Her own brunette hair was buzzed as short as a boy's—an unusual style for a twelve year old girl—and it emphasized the impish shape of her face.

"Nothing is as bad as last time. That's why the front stuff was so much shorter than the rest," Lyra grumbled, tossing the burned portion into the garbage can next to the sink. "At least the length can even out a bit now," she added, realizing that what had once been the fringe of hair that had needed to catch up with her longer locks was now about as long, if not longer in spots, as the rest of her hair.

Ren peered at her, dark eyes flitting about her foster sister's face. "I already miss your long hair."

"Complain to Copper about it," she murmured, cutting yet another chunk of hair and throwing it away.

The girls were silent as Lyra finished cutting her hair. Her chestnut locks hung short and just slightly uneven, but in an almost artistic-looking way. It was like a fashionable asymmetric bob from the Kalos toned down for day to day purposes. "On the bright side, this will be nice and cool for the summer," Lyra declared.

"What will be nice and cool?" Everyone turned to see Ethan stumble out of the bedroom he shared with Lyra and Kris, rubbing at eyes heavy with sleep. "You guys are being so loud and I can't sleep like that."

"Hi, Ethan," Lyra said, waving to greet him. "Copper burned my hair again."

He peered at her blearily. "I was just used to the length again."

Lyra hated to admit it, but she truly preferred sleepy Ethan over alert Ethan. Alert Ethan had become a belligerent and obsessive young man. Smiling at him, she asked, "Why are you sleeping so early in the day? It's only a little past noon."

"I was at Elm's all night doing work," he replied flatly. Glancing at Lumi, he raised his eyebrows. "You caught the Mareep? All on your own?"

"With a Quick Ball!" Lyra replied proudly, scooping up her new Pokémon proudly. "This is Lumi, and you thought I wasn't going to be able to catch her."

Ethan waved his hand nonchalantly at her, mumbling incoherently about 'dumb luck', and slipped past Ellie and Ren to go down the hall. Guilt rippled through Lyra as he left; she had encountered the thief. She could have ended all of his angst and irritation by returning Silver to Newbark Town, but she hadn't.

Didn't she owe something more to Ethan than letting something that important to him slip through her fingers?

Lyra shook her new, shorter hair nervously. It felt so light and feathery. "Have you two been good for Mom today?" she asked her foster sisters.

They both nodded. Giving the best smile she could manage, she exited the bathroom. "Good. Keep it up."

Like Ethan, she headed downstairs. Unlike her foster brother, who had stumbled to the kitchen to make food, she was off to Professor Elm's lab. She had her own research to do now—now with the letter S-I-L-V-E-R and B-R-I, the latter consisting of the only mystery about the thief's identity now.

Also, she needed to confide the day's events to the one person she could rely on to help her sort out her conflicting emotions: Kris.

* * *

Professor Elm's lab had once been a place where many young Trainers gathered to begin their journey. However, ever since Aether's intrusion and the beginning of the spatial rends, all of the regions' Pokémon Leagues, save for the Unovan League, were "suspended", which everyone knew as code for being terminated. Without a League, starters and Pokedexes were no longer given away. There was no point.

Now, Elm's lab was simply a shabby place of research with a dwindling number of assistants.

It had been fairly quiet for most of the morning until Lyra threw the door open, charging in. "Kris! Are you here?" she called loudly.

Up until that point, Kris had been working on compiling the scarce data on Johtonese Legendaries. Needless to say, the lack of data and the obscurity of the data she had found had rendered the work boring and sterile. "That you, babe?" she asked, looking over her shoulder to see Lyra rush over, her eyes wide. Her hair was short again—most likely courtesy of Copper.

Dragging a chair over to Kris's computer desk, Lyra perched on it. The Pokémon with her, Copper and a Mareep, took off into the bowels of the lab, clearly playing. Their Trainer's eyes were wild. "I did something really bad," she whispered.

"Burned your hair?" Kris guessed, smiling slyly.

"No. I…" she paused and checked for listening ears, her chest heaving. Two of Elm's assistants were filing weathered documents from the days of Elm's predecessor, a grouchy Johtonese woman with what was considered to be a "legendary case of halitosis". Lyra seemed satisfied with the status of the assistants and then leaned in to whisper, "I found the thief."

Kris snorted. "You mean that a redheaded man—one that stands over six feet tall, mind you—actually does exist in the Johto? And he didn't split after taking Totodile?"

"The Totodile is a Croconaw now," Lyra admitted heavily, and then went into great detail about what had happened during the day.

Bewildered by all that she had just heard, Kris rocked back in her seat, letting the spinning office chair groan under her weight. "Ethan is going to destroy you," she prophesized, nodding adamantly.

"No duh," Lyra replied, flipping her new, short hair around. She heaved a sigh and met Kris's gaze. Although she was long over her jealousy, Kris had wished for years that she had huge brown eyes like her adoptive sister's. They were so earnest and sweet, whereas her blue eyes were clear and decisive like freshly-formed ice at best. With that sincere flintiness in her eyes, Lyra said, "Right now, I want to figure out who that thief really is."

"We already tried the data bases for Trainers," Kris reminded her in a singsong voice, spinning around mindlessly in the office chair. "I doubt Silver B-R-I is going to turn up anything new."

Lyra fiddled with the brim of her newsboy cap nervously. "The thing is that I'm going to check Johto and Kanto birth records and court records and all that. We have access to them with these computers because of data-taking, remember?"

Rolling to the side, Kris gestured to the computer. "Be my guest," she said. She snatched her bento box, only slightly picked at due to the tedious quality of her archiving, and began to snack on the contents. "Be quick, though. Ethan doesn't leave the lab for long these days."

"I noticed. I've been doing most of his housework. Mom hasn't caught onto it yet, but I'll give her a month," Lyra muttered as she accessed the birth records. "S-I-L-V-E-R B-R-I," she muttered to herself as she typed. "The little jerk better show up in here."

"I wonder what sort of redheaded boy living in the Johto has enough money for a translator. Or…more specifically, who he's related to who has that money," Kris muttered, eyeing the cold rice with some disgust. Putting on a brave face, she sampled it anyway; it tasted no different, though its temperature was rather offsetting.

The results had loaded. There were hundreds, and none of them looked particularly promising. Lyra's brow furrowed. "Well, that's definitely not what I'm looking for. Some guy went to court in the Kanto with the Nurse Joy at Mt. Silver over 'bricks'." She rolled her eyes. "Who goes to court over bricks?"

"Arceus knows. The Kantonese are a weird bunch of people that pick a lot of unnecessary fights," Kris retorted, waving her chopsticks nonchalantly before stuffing more rice in her face. Hunger truly was the best seasoning.

She watched as Lyra narrowed the results to birth records, and immediately it came down to three results. The girls squinted at the screen as they read:

SILVERSTONE, BRITTNEY

ILVERT, BRIAN S.

BRICCONE, SILVER

Lyra clicked on the last result the moment she seemed to notice that the person's first name was Silver. The last name following Silver's name was highly familiar to Kris; she wasn't sure where she had heard it or why it seemed so familiar, but once the birth certificate loaded, she just choked on her rice. What was present on the father line was rather notorious.

"Holy shit," Kris hissed, trying to speak and dislodge a stray grain of rice from her throat. "Giovanni Briccone?! That's the head of Team Rocket!"

It seemed as though Lyra had silently realized this as she sat there, scanning the document. According to this, if Silver the thief and Silver Briccone were one and the same—which was highly likely at this point—there was plenty of information that could be recovered about him. He was nineteen, had been born on the ancient celebration of Christmas Eve, and his parents either weren't married. Women in the Kanto and Johto took on their husbands' last names without fail.

Kris exchanged looks with Lyra. "Team Rocket might be dead and all, but Giovanni still has that wealth. He paid a lawyer well to get off. If his son had no prior criminal record, and then suddenly stole a Totodile, what's going on there?" she asked no one in particular, frowning.

Lyra nodded silently in agreement. Then, she mumbled, "That explains that fancy-shmancy translator he had."

The lab door creaked open. Lyra froze, but Kris quickly leapt to action, clearing the screen of their search before no one other than Ethan Hibiki walked into the room, hatless and sleepy-looking with terrible bedhead. "Oh, hi, Lyra," he greeted. He had forgone lunch again and instead had yet another mug of coffee. "You don't spend much time in here anymore."

"Mom needs help at home and I'm actually around to do errands," she jibed, wringing her hands nervously. Kris wanted to grab her hands to force her to stop that action; Ethan would suspect something was wrong sooner. "So…uh…what have you been up to today?"

Internally cursing Lyra for asking that question and knowing exactly how he was going to answer that question, Kris did her best to detach herself from the situation as Ethan replied, "I looked for more information on that thief. I came up dry; the bastard is invisible. There's nothing to go on except for that stupid fragment of that ID card that says those letters."

Kris wanted to retort that all he had done was searched the Trainer archives to see if anything matched. Noticing Lyra's heavily guilty look, she jumped in for the save. "A tragedy, really," she began, allowing one eyebrow to arch imperiously, "since all you've been doing is using the archives. Why not actually hunt for the guy?"

"All I have is Marill! Going up against a guy with a Sneasel who stole a Croconaw is a really bad idea," he sassed, his eyebrows arching imperiously. "He'd probably kill me."

Kris shot a warning look at Lyra; Ethan was too far gone in his ravings to notice. With a delicate smile, she suggested, "Then shut up and start archiving with me. If you won't go out and do something about it yourself, do some work, you shit."

Seemingly unable to argue her point, Ethan stumped over to the computer he had been working at earlier and began typing away.

Kris turned to Lyra, submerged in her business mode. "Now, what would be really helpful is if you could sort the files up in our room chronologically."

She groaned. "The ones in your dresser drawer under your bras?"

"Yes. That stack. There's two baskets filled with papers that needed to be sorted by date. It's the data from the last thirty-five years of the Starter Pokémon given out in the Johto region," Kris said crispy. "It'll probably take you a while."

"No kidding," Lyra responded. Beckoning Copper and the Mareep over, she waved a quick goodbye and left to sort various files and documents.

Kris leaned back in her chair. The filing truly wasn't that necessary; it was currently sorted in such a way that she could access them and find what she was looking for in under a minute, but she needed to defuse the ticking time bomb between Lyra and Ethan.

With the detonation put off for a while, Kris returned to work. "I'm so clever," she muttered to herself. "I kick some serious ass."

* * *

Hours had passed and Lyra still hardly had the first twenty-five years organized properly. The previous professor, Prof. Gingko, had kept a large chunk of her records in old-fashioned kanji, which Lyra barely knew how to read. Her snarky Johtonese grandmother had taught her how to read kanji, but that was years ago.

In the heat, Lyra stripped off her jean romper, leaving her in the stick suit. Though the suits were opaque and covered the wearer from neck to feet, it was considered impolite to not wear some sort of clothing over them in the Johto. The social stigma left Lyra self-conscious, in spite of the fact that she was safe in the confines of her own room.

Names swirled through her field of vision. HARU SATO: CHIKORITA (M). AMELIA DONOVAN: CYNDIQUIL (M). MARLON NAKAMURA: TOTODILE (F) "BITER". They had been the first to receive starters with the formation of the modern Johto League.

The last group contained very familiar names: KRISTIN "KRIS" SEEKER: CHIKORITA (M). LYRA SOUL: CYNDAQUIL (M)(s) "COPPER". Of course, it didn't mention Silver Briccone, the Totodile thief. Certainly no one knew his identity, aside from Silver himself and then Lyra and Kris, but Lyra felt that someday it would be worth mentioning.

That Croconaw certainly respected Silver.

Copper wormed his way under Lyra's arm as she paged through the records. "La," he said simply. _These are interesting._

With a loud sigh, Lyra pushed the stack away and cuddled Copper to her chest. The Starter sighed; she had missed his point entirely. Noticing Lumi standing awkwardly nearby, she pulled the small Electric-type into an embrace as well. "I love you two," she murmured to them. "Life would be boring without you. I mean, it's boring with you, but not nearly as boring as it would be."

"Ree!" _You barely know me! _Lumi cried, a faint blush touching her dark face.

Lyra set them down and stood up to stretch. What had started off as a wild day was beginning to wind down rather anticlimactically. "Deeply unusual for me," she muttered to herself. The sun's beams no longer painted the floor in bright colors; it was getting into late afternoon already. She flicked a light switch and set back to work. "I swear I'll stop screwing around and get more done," she vowed to no one in particular and somewhat to herself.

Her work with the papers moved rapidly from that point. The kanji was replaced with the standard system, the one shared by all of the League-based regions. Names like KOGOME TSUBASA, formerly commonplace in the region, slowly found themselves playing second fiddle to more westernized names. Time was moving through these documents. Changes happened on paper where Lyra could see; so much of the standardization had occurred far before her time.

She had just gotten to Elm's messy penmanship in the pre-computerized era when she heard a sharp rap on her window. Startled by the sound, she scrambled into an upright position, only to nearly collapse again out of shock.

Peering into her second-story window was none other than the Totodile thief himself, Mr. Silver Briccone.

* * *

_A/N: Hello again. Here I am, updating this fic. It is late. Expect some potential edits. This is a Johto-heavy chapter. I suspect next chapter will be a little heavier on the Hoenn side._

_I was planning on updating last night, but then there was kind of a really big storm and my plans went *whoomp* kind of like half the trees in my town. Today and yesterday have been a little wild._

_So I'm also currently laughing at Nintendo. Armaldo is a Pokemon that comes from the sea. It dives after prey. It hunts in the water. Yet...it can't learn Surf or Dive. What the hell? In the name of negating that particular bit of stupidity, Steven's Armaldo is a swimmer and a diver. _

_Yes, Lyra is of a mixed background. I go to school with a girl who is a quarter Japanese and three-quartersand looks a lot like Lyra would IRL, so I've always had this headcanon that Lyra is like a quarter Johtonese and the rest is probably Kantonese (which I treat as being kind of a white man's mix bag in my fics) or something, since Lyra Soul doesn't sound like a name that's very Johto-ish._

_The plot is really going to start moving from here on out. I needed to set a few things up, establish some relationships, etc. So, bear with me while I start preparing the next update for public consumption._

_Please leave a review. So far I'm glad with the mostly positive response I'm getting to this fic; I was really hoping that this fic would make you guys as happy as it's making me._


	5. Iron

**Note: a few small edits were done. I didn't like my wording.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But if I did, I would probably make the Bug type weak to fewer Pokemon types because bugs are terrifying.**

* * *

"Well, I'm sorry I look pretty shitty and all, but you kind of dragged me out here on a moment's notice."

Steven thought the opposite as May trotted out of the lab. Free of her white lab coat and other work-related attire, she looked breezy and free…well, as breezy and free as one could look in a stick suit. She had shifted her bandana to serve as a makeshift headband, pushing the choppy, frizzy hair at the back of her head away from the longer chunks in the front. "An hour isn't a moment's notice, you exaggerator," he said, draping an arm tiredly over his Skarmory's back.

May watched him, one thinly-penciled eyebrow lifting slightly at his exhaustion. "What's your excuse for being tired?"

"My 'excuse' is that I've been across the Hoenn and back about four times in three days and it's exhausting," he responded crossly, sounding sharper than he meant to. It wasn't as though he was living a life of luxury, either; who even was these days aside from the extremely rich and the kingpins? "Are we going to Mossdeep for lunch or what?"

Slightly taken aback at his unusual snippiness, May tossed out a Pokeball. Her Pelipper, a large, chesty specimen named Captain, swooped to her outstretched arm, perching heftily on it. "Cool it, Stone. I'm not trying to pick a fight. It was an attempt at making conversation," she replied. In attempt to seem as though she wasn't bothered by Steven's snippiness, she scratched her nose with her free hand and shifted her weight casually.

He sighed. "Sorry. I'll pay for din—lunch," he corrected, earning a fishy look from May. "Consider it part of my apology for being rude."

"I'll take it. Doing research and security doesn't really make much money and all," she responded. As she coaxed Pelipper off of her arm, she added, "Speaking of money, do you have any idea if your dad is willingly supporting Aether or if he's just been wasting his money from Devon Corp?"

"I have no idea. He doesn't talk to me about that sort of thing," Steven replied hopelessly. He clambered on Skarmory's back. "Let's forget about that for a while. Let's fly there, eat lunch, make some jokes at Brendan's expense, and not talk about Aether or spatial rends or anything like that."

May shrugged as she lithely sprang onto Captain's back. "What else is there to talk about?"

"I'm sure there's something," Steven said, but he wasn't sure that he believed it, either.

As they took off, conversation ceased. The altitudes and speed at which Skarmory and Captain flew at were quite different; attempting to have a conversation while Captain flew at only about three quarters of the speed and fifty feet higher than Skarmory. Damage from the earlier spatial rend scattered the ground far below; a few trees had been torn apart. They passed the Trick House. It had been torn to shreds years ago, but it filled Steven's stomach with a deep feeling of sadness. If the Trick House was decimated and the Trick Master no longer used puzzles to entertain and confuse young Trainers, was there really any fun or joy left in the region?

Although Pelipper wasn't a fast flyer and Skarmory was clearly done with Steven's need to fly everywhere, it still took less than an hour to arrive at Mossdeep City, just outside of Steven's tiny home. It seemed like the last time he had seen home for any length of time was about four years ago. "That is a metric shit-ton of stick fabric," May commented, approaching the house and poking at the jet black fabric protecting the walls. "How much did this all cost? Most people can only afford supports."

"Well, Dad paid for it," he admitted with an embarrassed little laugh. His cheeks felt ridiculously hot; confessing that his dad still had money was not a point of pride for him when most people barely had enough money to buy a stick suit in the right size. "I'd have to ask him."

May rolled her eyes. "Where is this restaurant again?"

"Near the space center," Steven responded, his cheeks still flaming. "Let's go."

* * *

There was something unnerving about how this headquarters had barracks and a training center in it. Brendan didn't believe in coincidences, so there was something wildly fishy about it.

Aether definitely had the recruiting business down in the Hoenn. Here it had become a "us or them" mentality, and oftentimes, Aether truly did have the upper hand. Perhaps they were focused on threatening to destroy Legendaries for the sake of making something akin to ransom money and bribes not to do it, but they paid employees and other supporters well. Those who worked for the organization had good schools for their kids, guaranteed safety from spatial rends, and a future, even if the future probably wasn't going to be a long one. And what the hell—they even had free health care. The Hoenn region didn't have that.

Siding with the remnants of the League, people with razor-sharp tongues and smiles that didn't quite reach their eyes, was not a popular option for the strong but downtrodden anymore.

Brendan quickly learned that very few people had joined to support the cause of Aether. There were four others who had offered up their services in the past few days, and they were the oddest assortment of people he had seen in the holding room he had been led to.

The youngest person there was a girl in her mid teens named Aurora Nunez. She was a petite thing dressed in colorful skirts with a shy smile, but her Pokémon were anything but petite and shy. When Brendan had walked in, she had been sitting on an Aggron's back, scrubbing at a stain between his horns. Aside from Aggron, she possessed a Flygon, a Mightyena, and a peculiar Unovan Pokémon called Darmanitan. She had joined in the name of feeding her family.

Seemingly paired with her was some sort of relative of hers; they shared the same heart-shaped face, gold-tinted skin and wavy mop of sandy hair. His name was Tino Nunez. Where his younger relative had massive, intimidating Pokémon, he possessed traditionally beautiful Pokémon like Gardevoir, Bellossom, and Masquerain. His reasons for joining were the same as Auora's.

The oldest one was Iva Moreau. The woman was a tall, dark-skinned matron with a Kalosian accent who was a very young sixty—Brendan had though she was maybe in her early forties at oldest before she mentioned her age—and had three powerful Fire Pokémon at her disposal: a Ninetales, a Flareon, and a Blaziken that reminded Brendan painfully of home. She simply stated that she had joined to protect her granddaughter.

The young man with her appeared to be a native Kalosian of about eighteen or nineteen, with fine features and chin-length dark hair. His name was Calem Beaumont. He said nothing and revealed only one Pokémon: an Altaria. Brendan knew he had more, judging by how his hands kept brushing uncomfortably at his empty belt. Perhaps some of his had died or been confiscated. He didn't talk about his reasons.

"So…what are you here for?" Iva asked him. Her voice was deep like a man's.

Brendan simply shrugged. He didn't want to give his false reason or his true reason, especially in discovering that no one was here to support the cause. "It just happened."

Before Iva could remark on it, Tino interjected, "I understand. It's okay if you don't want to say. Shit's tough. Aurora and I are just trying to feed our siblings. And Iva wants to protect that granddaughter of hers. If you're traumatized or whatever you don't have to say."

"Thanks," Brendan said, heartened by Tino's friendly nature.

He noticed Iva still eyeing him fishily. Was it the beard? The nonchalant attitude? What bothered her?

Did she recognize him?

Aurora hopped down off of her Aggron's back, patted his knee, and sauntered over to her brother. "I hear the training is pretty rough here," she said conversationally to the group. "Like both the physical and mental. And probably the Pokémon stuff, too. But I hear it's bad. Can you just drop if you can't do it?"

"Probably. They wouldn't want weak Trainers," Calem said quietly.

Gazing around, Brendan sighed loudly. "How long are we going to be in here?"

"Heaven knows. Get comfortable," Iva replied, sitting down on one of the numerous chairs spread across the floor. "It could be ages."

Brendan sighed. He had just barely met these people, needed to carry out his plan, and bring Aether to its knees. There wasn't time for sitting around in some room like this. Biting back his frustration, he sat down on the floor and sighed loudly. "Waiting is the game, then," he muttered to himself loudly. "It's always waiting, isn't it?"

* * *

"So…we flew all the way over here to eat lunch. And all you order is 2 rice balls and their largest serving of sake?"

May glanced up from her PokeNav to see Steven staring at her in shock. The waiter had just left after taking their orders. "Your point?" she asked, her upper lip twitching with the tiniest of potential smiles.

Steven simply leaned back in his seat and sighed. "You look really thin. I feel like you've been drinking too much and not eating enough."

"Not drinking much…but yeah, not eating enough," May replied, toying with her bandana. "My stomach feels like it shrunk to the size of a grape like 6 years ago and hasn't returned since."

Steven laughed, but he began to feel particularly awkward for ordering the amount of food he just did. He reprimanded, "Well tell it to quit that," he said.

"If I would I could, Steven," she replied, suddenly taking an interest in her nails. They were painted black—an oddity for her. When had she ever worn nail polish? Even then, it seemed like black would be the last color she would wear. Yet what did he actually know about her?

An awkward silence fell over the table. May paid more attention to her Minun than she was to him. As she looked away from him, he found his eyes tracing the planes of her face. "Do you have anyone?" he asked suddenly.

May snorted. "Like a boyfriend or what? If you haven't noticed, I'm a little too busy and little too sarcastic for that," she said, nudging her Minun's cheek affectionately.

Steven let the question slide. It had been an odd one to ask. Though she wasn't great with people, surely someone out there didn't mind that and found her rigid awkwardness with people endearing. He pushed his hair out of his face and sighed loudly. "We need Fuertes," he admitted with a laugh.

"You think?" May asked, meeting his eyes. "He knows how to talk. I don't."

"Is that a personal choice or purely circumstantial?" he asked.

May shrugged. "Heaven knows." Then, she frowned at something occurring across the restaurant.

Steven turned in his seat to look at what May had just stared at. She reached out, settling her hands over top of his to get his attention. "Don't stare," May whispered. "There's a girl watching us. She looks very familiar."

"What kind of familiar?" Familiar meant a number of things. It meant former member of Aether, a disguise of Latias's, an old friend—clarification was needed.

Pretending to show Steven something on her Pokenav, May whispered, "She's from Kalos. I think she might be the Champion there."

"What is she doing here?" Steven whispered back, an image filtering into his mind. Serena Lapointe, the Champion of the Kalos region, was in Hoenn? About three years ago, before the Kalos began experiencing the level of depravity every other region was going through, she had been a heavily controversial Champion. Her defeat of Team Flare had ultimately ended in their deaths, as the lab had collapsed on them. The lack of remorse she had shown made some question as to whether she was morally strong enough to be a Champion for children to look up to. Likewise, somewhat like May, she was not known for being particularly personable, and her family wasn't native to Kalos, a trait made obvious by her dark skin.

May sighed. "I know what you're thinking…she and I are both actual pieces of shit."

"Well you're not entirely wrong," Steven replied.

The waiter brought their food and left wordlessly. Steven's bowl of Udon was suddenly very unappealing; he had been so hungry just minutes before. He decided to nibble at it and bring the rest home. May, on the other hand, made quick work of the rice balls before starting on the sake. "Smells like Brendan's house," she mumbled, smiling. "His mom drank a lot of sake when he was gone for too long and when I didn't visit enough."

It had been the first time she had genuinely smiled in ages. Steven studied the expression seriously. "Do you love Brendan?" he asked. Momentarily he had forgotten about Serena's presence in a Johtonese restaurant in the Hoenn.

"Like a sibling. Mom and Dad refused to have any more kids after me. I wasn't good with other kids, and I was Pokémon-obsessed from the time I was a little girl. Brendan annoyed me a lot, coming over from the Johto with that stupid accent and that cockiness, but in the end he's okay. Kind of like the dipshit brother I have to keep an eye on, though," she replied, sipping at the sake. Brushing one long chunk of hair behind her ear, she asked, "What does it matter? You interested in me, Stone?"

"Not really?" he replied, holding his hands up defensively. "Just…well…I don't know," he admitted.

"I know how it goes. Cute face, bad attitude," she replied.

Steven was taken aback. "Do you wish I was interested in you?"

Her eyes flashed. "I wish anyone would be interested in me, Stone. Girls find smart, crabby boys endearing. Fixable. But then guys _hate _girls like me. The smart, crabby girls who think for themselves? Oh Arceus—can't deal with that!" she hissed in an undertone. Taking yet another swig from the sake, she sighed. It was a shuddery noise, and her expression calmed as the sigh escaped her lips. The anger had once again disappeared, and May was let with her traditional look of boredom and knowledge. "Since no one can like me for who I am when everyone else likes the boys like me, it's a little frustrating."

Unsure of how to respond to May's deeply unsettling anger, he tried eating udon. It tasted terrible now, not just unappetizing. Her confession had left a strong taste of iron in his mouth. Not that he was bleeding, but her words were cutting.

He didn't know how to feel.

The sound of a chair scraping over the dirty tile floor caught their attentions. None other than the Kalosian Champion Serena approached, sitting her chair at the head of the table. Steven was shocked by her appearance; on TV she had always been dressed exquisitely in the latest fashions with well-groomed, generally short hair and heavy but well-applied makeup.

This Serena had long, unkempt dark hair tied into submission with a tiny ponytail at the ends of her hair. The fashionable clothing and makeup was gone, showing off a quiet-looking girl in her late teens with broad shoulders, narrow hips, and sunspots flecking her cheekbones. Noticeably, her stick suit was jet black. "Hello," she greeted, tossing her hair out of her face. Her accent stretched the word into "hah-low". "I have brought Death to this region in the name of finding Life."

Steven and May exchanged looks. "What do you mean?" May asked slowly. Her Minun, who had helped herself to Steven's mostly untouched udon, noticed the strange Kalosian girl and bristled and shot sparks into the air.

With a fairly quizzical expression on her face, Serena propped her feet up on the table. "I am the consort of Death himself, Yveltal. I'm looking for Life, Xerneas. I forget sometimes that you do not use Death and Yveltal and Life and Xerneas inter…" she paused, seeking the world.

Steven interjected, "Interchangeably?"

"_Merci! _Interchangeably!" she declared.

May gazed at Serena as though she was from another planet. "You…called yourself the consort of Yveltal. Are you…married to a Pokémon or something?" she asked quietly. Steven dragged his hand down his face; there was no little to no tact when it came to May.

Serena shrugged. "It is not a romantic marriage or a marriage. It is more like a…uh…an unbreakable bond with Death," she explained. "The trouble is that the group Aether has stolen Life."

"They have _Xerneas?_" May asked, her eyes huge.

She nodded. "_Oui. _I mean, yes. I apologize; my standard language can be a little…uh…terrifying at times. No, no, no. I believe I meant 'terrible'." She groaned and drew her feet off the table. "Aether took Xerneas for themselves. Her consort, my friend Calem, is now working for them to protect her from the fate of…your large flying green Pokémon?"

"Rayquaza," Steven mumbled, offering the last of his udon to placate Minun. The small Electric-type was still very affronted by the Kalosian Champion's appearance.

Smiling sadly, Serena continued, "I will stop at nothing to free Xerneas and Calem from Aether. I understand that you are Steven Stone, a former Champion. You look to be powerful as well, though I do not know you," Serena admitted to May, who simply flapped a hand nonchalantly in response to her unknown identity. "I wish to have your help in doing so."

"If you have death on your side why do you need us?" May asked, downing the last of her sake.

"I am but one woman with six Pokémon and Yveltal. You are Steven Stone…and Monsieur Stone's friend…and you are not part of Aether," she replied. "The Hoenn League is the only league safe from Aether's influence."

May rolled her eyes. "It's because so many of them are dead. No one wants to join Elite Four and Gym Leader killers. Don't they tell you about these things off in Kalos?"

"That is unfortunate," Serena said, pressing her hands into a steeple shape imperiously.

Steven fiddled with the cuff on his jacket. "I don't have a lot of information on Aether, and neither does May. We have been part of the project that protects Kyogre and Groudon."

"So you are not into…into…oh, dear, it is the word that begins with an 'e' and has to do with spying," Serena said, her brow furrowed.

"Espionage?" May offered.

"_Merde. _Espionage. That is what I meant!" she declared, clapping her hand to her face.

Steven studied the young Champion. Though her tone was jovial, there was deep-seated grief in her eyes…along with vengeance. Like Brendan, like May, like Steven, like so many others, she wanted to tear down Aether and rip them to pieces. Steven had wanted to do something for years, but he had never really had the firepower to do so. The Hoenn League had been strong, yet never had it been strong enough to tear Aether down.

With Serena and Death himself, was it possible to do some damage?

"What the hell. I'll help out," Steven replied, planting his hands on the table. "Ms. Lapointe, I'll help you. How about you, May?" he questioned her.

She raised her eyebrows. "You want to know if I'll just come with you? Drop the whole researching-slash-guarding thing I'm doing and just run off with you and some Kalosian chick?" Pushing her plate toward the edge of the table for the waiter to pick up, she added, "I'm bored. Let's do it. We're all probably going to die anyway in the next few years, so sue me if that's a bad reason."

Serena clapped her hands together delightedly. "Fantastic! I shall introduce you to Death!" Hopping to her feet, she rushed outside. "Meet me on the hill when you're done!"

Once she left and the door clattered shut, May turned to Steven. "Didn't you think she was a total bitch?" she asked flatly, an amused smile twitching on her lips.

"It could very well be an act, but I'm sold?" Steven replied. "If it turns out she was bluffing about being Yveltal's consort, we can just say 'forget it' and return to whatever boring thing we would be doing next."

May shrugged. "Might as well."

Steven paid the bill and they left, heading for the hill that Serena spoke of.

* * *

When Lyra recovered her ability to speak, she rushed over to the window. "What the heck are you doing?" she whispered furiously to Silver, who was perched precariously on the narrow strip of roof above the back door of the house. "What if someone saw you climb up on my house?"

"You're not even going to ask how I got here?" he asked, sounding almost disappointed.

"Well you obviously followed me," Lyra grumbled, reaching to adjust the strap of her jean romper awkwardly…and then realized she wasn't wearing it. That was rather lewd of her. She sighed loudly and slid the window open wider. Silver was blocking the breeze. "Why are you here? It's stupid to be here. Ethan can probably smell you from a mile away."

Silver shifted his position as he asked, "Who is Ethan? A Growlithe with a shitty nickname?"

"The kid you knocked out of the way to get your Croconaw, perhaps?" Lyra remarked with a half-smile. "He would probably bite you like a Growlithe, though. He's pretty upset about all that…especially that bit where you called him weak."

Groaning loudly, Silver attempted to push the window open further, obviously in an attempt to come into Lyra's room. She stopped him by locking the window in place. "Look, it's nice to see you again and all, but I don't know if I'd be able to let you go twice. It's one thing to accidentally come across you while protecting one's self from a spatial rend and then cover it up by a lie of omission, but it's another to not mention you popping into my room like we're old friends. Speaking of which, why are you here?" Lyra asked.

Silver attempted to open the window further, but the lock denied him entry. After sighing gratuitously, he settled for resting his head against the windowsill. "Kind of trying to figure out what kind of goody two-shoes just lets a thief run away," he mumbled. "That and you probably figured out who I am since I dropped part of a broken ID when I took Croconaw. And a few other things."

"So…" Lyra pieced her thoughts together. "Really you're here to try and figure out who I am."

He lifted his head, frowning. "Don't word it like that, you idiot." He pushed at the window. "Let me in."

"No."

"No?" Silver raised his eyebrows. "Aren't you supposed to be nice?"

"Didn't you listen to a thing I said? You coming in here isn't something I can cover up," Lyra retorted. "I'm feeling guilty enough as is."

"You sure your name isn't Mary Sue?" Silver retorted, pointing at her tetchily.

Lyra glanced at his hands. A strange ring decorated the middle finger of his left hand; made of black metal and set with pale lavender stones, it exuded in aura of mystery and power. "My mom's side of the family is too Johtonese for a name like Mary Sue," she replied.

"Do you even know what a Mary Sue is?"

Lyra simply began to slide the window shut. "Please get out of town. It's good to see you, but seriously. Ethan will do his best to destroy you."

"He couldn't do that the first time," Silver scoffed, but he peeled away from the window, obliging.

As he began moving around the edge of the roof again, Lyra felt the strange, almost sick feeling in her stomach for the second time in one day. Six months without spatial rends…only to have two in one day. She flung the window open. "Silver!" she hissed. "Get in here! There's a spatial rend!"

He peered around the corner he'd just disappeared around. "What?"

The trees were distorting. Again. When had there ever been two spatial rends in one day? "Get in!" she growled, not bothering to lower her voice. "Spatial rend."

Silver scrambled back around the roof, edging along as quickly as he could. Space distorted again, and roof tiles slipped out from under his feet. "Palkia says 'Fuck this shingle in particular'," Silver hissed as he regained his footing.

"Come on! It's getting bad!" Lyra urged him. The fallen roof tiles transformed into terrible spikes below; perhaps Palkia truly did have a beef with them.

When Silver was within arm's reach, Lyra held her hand out. "Get in!" she called over the loud creaking and groaning. "There's no time!"

His hand latched onto hers and she pulled him in. In fact, she pulled with such force that the thief tumbled in on top of her. Copper, being ever faithful and knowledgeable in what to do in a spatial rend, clambered onto the window sill and pushed it shut. The room was sealed from the terrifying distortions occurring outside.

Lyra and Silver were too relieved at the safety of the room to immediately care that they were experiencing full body contact. Propped up on one elbow, Silver surveyed the room. "This place is tiny as hell but it looks like Heaven right now. Not too bad, you Mary Sue."

"It is heavenly. It's a good place to sleep," Lyra remarked.

It was then that they met each other's eyes, and the realization occurred. Lyra's torso was pinioned beneath Silver's broad chest and her legs were tangled with his. It wasn't a negative sensation—far from it, actually. She watched his face redden at the realization that her breasts were crushed against his ribs. Silver rolled off of Lyra so quickly that he nearly squished Lumi. "MarEEP!" she cried in vexation. _Don't crush me, you brute!_

He squinted at the small sheep Pokémon, muttering about shearing and gyros as Lyra rolled into a sitting position, drawing her knees to her chest to hide her figure, her face red. That had been far too intimate of a position for someone who had only ever been kissed (two different times—once by Ethan during a game of Truth or Dare and another time by a boy she had flirted with in Azalea Town) fairly chastely or awkwardly.

Silver noticed Lyra staring at him. "What?" he demanded, and he sounded a little off color at the awkward intensity of the look. "You look like I bit you or something!"

"Lyra?" came her mother's voice at the door. "Are you safe in there?"

She clapped a hand to her mouth. "Hide. Quick." Hastily she scrambled to her feet and headed for her door. After a moment, Lyra glanced back and saw that Silver had clambered to the top bunk and hidden himself under Ethan's pile of blankets.

Inhaling a huge breath, calming her buzzing nerves and rushing adrenaline, Lyra tugged the door open. "Hi, Mom," she replied. She prayed that her flustered looks would be chalked up to the notion of a second spatial rend. "I'm okay."

Chiyo Soul looked painfully nervous as well; she barely noticed her own daughter's flaming cheeks and too-bright eyes as she pulled her only biological daughter into a tight embrace. "Good. Good, good. Then stay where you are. I need to make some phone calls." She kissed her daughter's forehead and added, "I love you."

"Love you too, Mom," Lyra responded.

She left quickly after, and Silver popped his head out from under the blanket. "Looks like the Mary Sue has a Mary Sue for a mother."

"I didn't ask for your opinion," Lyra grumbled, rubbing tiredly at her eyes. She stumbled over to her bed and plopped down on it with little decorum. "How are you not freaking out right now? About anything?"

"You mean me falling on you or Palkia getting pissy twice in one day?" Silver asked, shaking the blankets free and clambering down the ladder.

"Both, but I'm talking about the spatial rend," Lyra responded. "How are you not freaking out?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to," Silver responded. Some of the warmth in his voice from earlier faded into chilliness. He sat on the middle rung of the bunk bed ladder, his vermillion eyes particularly frigid. "You might have saved my ass but you're still annoying."

Lyra sighed loudly. She scooped Copper from his position at the window sill and sat him on her lap. "Good. Since I'm being annoying, what's the ring all about?"

"Shut up."

She gave an exhausted but good-natured smile. "Tell me."

His hands clenched on his pant legs as he snipped, "No."

"Well okay…" Lyra paused, deciding on whether to use her leverage. "Silver Briccone."

He gave a low, harsh laugh. It sent shivers down Lyra's spine, and not at all pleasant ones. Why did he have to be so cold and harsh all the time? Why had he come to seek her if all she did was agitate him? "Congrats. You can do research. Give yourself a gold star," he snapped.

In lieu of saying something mean in return, she bit her tongue. Hard. A ruddy swirl of iron trickled down her throat. It was better that she bleed instead of being mean. Sitting there with her sore tongue, she peered out the window. The trees contorted into strange shapes, and the sky was the wrong color. Silver cleared his throat. "Not so chatty now, are you?"

"Not everyone can blow as much hot air as you do. Not even Copper," Lyra muttered, stroking her mesmerized starter.

He snickered. "Harsh."

That was about enough from him. Lyra's brow furrowed and she snapped, "Well, excuse me! _I _was being harsh? That's hilarious! You're _so _mean! And even though I'm so annoying and all that, you still came here, looking for me!" She set Copper on the bed and ignored her Mareep's bleating protests as she rose to her feet. She strode over to Silver and jabbed his chest, hard. "Do you just need some punching bag or something?"

Silver stared back at her, simmering. "Shut up. You're being hysterical."

"I'm a little upset!" she hissed in an undertone. Reeling away from him, she scooped up Lumi and sat on the bed with her, massaging her woolly fur. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. "Just, can you blame me for being a little confused? You were looking for me—me, of all people—and I'm not sure why. You've called me annoying and a goody two-shoes and a Mary Sue and all that junk. If I'm so irritating to you, why would you come back?"

Silver looked away. If Lyra didn't know better, she would have thought that he almost looked ashamed of himself…or flustered? Like Lyra had just done, he took a deep breath. He opened his mouth and said—

Nothing, as the door swung open. "Wow, lucky me, getting home before that spatial rend struck. Isn't it—" Kris made it halfway into her room before freezing on the spot. Glancing between Silver and Lyra, she sighed loudly. "I know you think kind of highly of this douchebag and all, Lyra, but I'm gonna turn this guy over to Professor Elm and Ethan when this rend stops."

Silver bolted for the window, but Lyra threw herself in front of it. "You will die out there!"she chided him loudly.

The redhead groaned and threw himself onto the floor. "Fuck," he hissed. "Dammit."

Kris folded her arms across her chest and looked to Lyra, who had opened her mouth to protest. "I don't know how he got in here, but if he's stupid enough to return to the scene of the crime, he gets what he deserves."

Lyra watched Silver. He looked like a cornered Pokémon, and she wanted to free him. They were going to take Croconaw away from him. The Water Starter had respect and admiration for the young man, but that clearly didn't matter much to Kris.

She buried her face in Lumi's wool. "Damn," she mumbled to herself.

* * *

_A/N: Hello! It is once again a late-night update, but I'm not too tired at this point. I had two editors look at this one, but I fear for mistakes. Let's just assume that from now on I'll probably go back and edit chapters when I'm bored or feeling uninspired._

_I'm really excited because in a week I'm going to my favorite state park and hiking and it'll be SO FUN. I love hiking. I'll probably get sunburned but it'll be okay._

_So Serena and Calem are obviously in the Hoenn, although Brendan has no idea that Calem is paired with Xerneas and Serena is paired with Yveltal. My editors at first were like "Why are you pairing the girl with the Death Pokemon?" and there they go with enforcing gender roles again; girls are pure and sweet, and boys are big and tough and scary. Nuh-uh. Aside from Lyra, who kind of got pissed off at Silver this chapter, I like writing female characters who aren't really pure and sweet all the time._

_I actually have gotten some flack for having both Brendan and Ethan hoping to get revenge. Opinions are opinions, and I can't change them. I'd just like to say, though, that if your world was coming apart, wouldn't you feel kind of vengeful a little more easily than usual? They feel it for different reasons, too. The vengeance thing being in two male characters-and now Serena-has nothing to do with their gender._

_Yeah, Serena keeps switching into Kalosian (French) while she talks. If you didn't know, "merde" means "shit" in French. The more you know..._

_I can't wait to really show the true colors of certain characters in the new few chapters. I'm excited._

_Leave a review if you like! I'm having a lot of fun reading up on what you guys think._


	6. Explosion

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But if I did I would have never created Professor Sycamore.**

* * *

White sat on the cliffs overlooking Aspertia City, letting the salty ocean wind ruffle her hair. "Arceus deserted us," she muttered to herself. She flopped onto her back. "What a load of bullshit. Who just abandons their creation like that? That'd be like my mom abandoning me because I swear sometimes….well, worse, but still."

The wind pushed up her shirt. Wishing that she could feel the cool air on her belly once more, she rubbed her stomach to compensate. Early morning air tossed her long brunette locks.

It was here that she waited for an old friend or two—the trouble was that N had to convince these friends to come. Waiting in the grass was an unnerving process. In the past twenty-four hours, there had been two spatial rends. That had never happened before; what if it became a norm?

If the increasing occurrence of rends wasn't a sign of Arceus flipping off the world and wandering off elsewhere in the universe, then what was?

Two roars split the silence. White angled the brim of her baseball cap upward to see black and white dots in the sky. Zekrom and Reshiram. N had been lucky; the two Legendaries never roosted together. His link with Reshiram allowed him to find the large white dragon wherever she roosted, yet Zekrom had broken his link with White as soon as the first crisis with Team Plasma had ended.

The dragons descended upon the hill; N, with his ponytail fluttering majestically in the breeze, leaped from Reshiram's back and jogged over to White, smiling. "I found them," he said, smiling brightly. "It only took three hours."

"Good work," she replied with a wink, and then she began to elevate herself into a sitting position. White had barely sat up when Zekrom headbutted her affectionately. "Whoa, buddy! Long time no see and all, but there's no need to kill me!"

_Miss White, _he rumbled joyfully, _I did not intend to hurt you._

Reshiram made a low sighing noise nearby. _Oh, jeez. Chill out, _he said, his language filled with colloquialisms. It seemed ironic that a Pokémon who frequently spoke and worked with N would be the one to absorb those colloquialisms like a Shroomish using Leech Seed.

They chatted a little bit about lighthearted things. How was Kyurem? Was Nate taking good care of him? How had the weather been? When were N and White going to tie the knot?

This brought the affianced couple's spirits down. With a loud sigh, White said, "Guys, we heard that Arceus has abandoned us. The world will die without him and probably soon. We're not exactly getting married before that happens."

_This is true. I would give life on Earth about six months maximum, _Zekrom said, itching at his throat, oblivious to grief the couple felt over not being able to get a marriage certificate due to N's lack of documentation in Unova. It would take longer to get clearance than it would for the world to end. _We took Kyurem to attempt to talk to him, but he refused to speak to us._

Reshiram groaned loudly. _Not that he chatted with us much before and all, being a giant egotistical douche bag and all, but it was weird that he just totally ignored us like that._

"Who will he listen to?" White questioned. "Do you have any idea?"

Reshiram and Zekrom exchanged looks before shrugging. Zekrom replied, _If Dialga and Palkia were not spending so much time attempting to wreak vengeance on humanity, maybe they would. But I think it would be the humans apologizing and talking him back into coming that would work better._

N linked an arm hesitantly around White's waist. Hope glimmered in his flat gray-green eyes. "Where do we find Arceus?"

_Sinjoh Ruins in between the Johto and Sinnoh, or perhaps Spear Pillar on Mt. Coronet in the Sinnoh, _Zekrom replied, but as he spoke, he shook his head. _He needs proof of purity and character. He would probably kill just any regular person._

White sighed. She didn't like what they were insinuating. "Is that an insult? Is N too much of an extreme tree hugger and am I too much of a dedicated tomboy to be good people?"

_You have knowledge of things and cynicism that Arceus would have no mercy for, _Zekrom said.

Reshiram yawned loudly, tossing his lupine head backward. _Yeah…you two probably have done the deed or something by now—and wouldn't that act be enough for you guys to be considered married?_

"I don't think that is the purity that Zekrom speaks of," N replied, although he blushed profusely at Reshiram's suggestion.

Zekrom sighed. _Will you not debate this? I don't particularly care if you two had relations or not. You are both cynical and have little hope for the world. You want life to continue, but you believe it will not. Someone with a brighter outlook and a good heart might be able to reason with Arceus._

N and White exchanged looks. "So…we're looking for someone naïve?" White questioned.

_That's not the word he used, you dumbass, _Reshiram retorted fiercely.

Zekrom gave Reshiram a long, pointed look. He quietly retorted, _That is essentially what I was trying to say, but I did not truly mean naïve._

_You're confusing as hell, _Reshiram snipped.

"Shush," White warned them, silencing the dragons with her terrifying tone. "We're going to take the little bit of information you two have given us and figure out what to do. We can't just sit here and do nothing."

They chatted about less important things once more before Reshiram and Zekrom took off, leaving N and White alone on the hill. N frowned at the sky, and White poked his arm. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"I was thinking…" he started quietly, scratching at his throat. "When do I get to speak to you on a first name basis? I gave you a ring, which means we are getting married hopefully, but you will not allow me to refer to you as Hilda and not by your surname."

"I thought you were going to say something profound!" White growled, her cheeks burning. She threw herself at him; N gasped as he tried to support himself with his fiancée's added weight and eventually collapsed with White sitting triumphantly on top of him. "Once we get married, maybe you can call me Hilda."

"The world is ending," N groaned. "Stop saying that."

She scoffed. "Earth to N? I'm not letting the world end, and neither are you," White reminded him, rising to her feet. She helped N up once she was stable. "So give it a few months, and you can call me 'Hilda' if you want to. I mean, White wouldn't make much sense anymore. I'll be…well…Gropius," she realized out loud, resisting the urge to make a face.

"Your last name is nice. Can I have yours?" N asked.

"No, it doesn't work like that," White responded. She pressed her lips to his cheek and grabbed his hand. "I've changed everything else you had. You can change my last name."

They stood quietly, a couple linked lovingly on the cliff. The tone they had taken on made it obvious; they had some searching to do if they wanted to get married one day. Not long after, the two flew off to places unknown on two relatively uncommon Pokémon: an Archeops and a Braviary, native only to the Unova.

Soon, they would be strangers in even stranger lands.

* * *

The spatial rend had passed fairly quickly. It had been short and mostly harmless—the only trouble was that Lyra was nauseatingly certain that Silver would probably be harmed by Ethan.

Kris was currently leading the thief off to the lab with the assistance of her Meganium and her Ariados. Meganium's vines were snaked around Silver like organic shackles, and Ariados had cut the usage of Silver's arms via String Shot. Lyra trailed behind with Copper slung around her shoulders like an overheated, heavy fur stole. Lumi had been made too anxious by the situation to join Lyra, and she currently rested comfortably in her Quick Ball. "Kris, please, let him go. Ethan is going to hurt him," Lyra begged, unable to keep the fearful note out of her voice.

"He's a criminal. Maybe you're all nice and sweet, but I'm sure as hell not letting this douche bag off the hook. Ethan can tear him to pieces once we get that Croconaw back," Kris replied.

Silver snapped indignantly, "I'm not a fucking piece of meat, woman!"

"Let's face it—we're all ten pound masses of nerve endings piloting a meat suit. You are just a giant piece of meat in the end," Kris replied dryly.

Lyra felt her chest seize with anxiety. She trotted to keep up with Kris's long-legged stride and threw herself in front of them. Meganium just about face-planted as he avoided ramming straight through one of his favorite humans "Why are you taking that Croconaw from him? That Pokémon _wants _to be with him!" she demanded. Silver eyed her strangely as she blocked their path, as if he hadn't expected her to stick up for him.

Maybe he'd been rude, but if a Croconaw seemed to admire and care for him, he couldn't be a completely awful person, right?

Kris sighed loudly. "Haven't you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? That Pokémon obviously has started identifying with his kidnapper," she responded matter-of-factly. Taking Lyra by the forearms, she tugged the younger girl aside and continued to the lab with her Pokémon and Silver at hand. "I'm not exactly thrilled with how Ethan is probably going to handle this either. Whether it's physical or verbal attacks, it won't be pretty and it'll leave a sour taste in my mouth."

"Then just let him go," Lyra pleaded as she followed her, unable to keep the whine out of her voice. "Please. This is unnecessary."

Kris shook her head. They were in front of the lab. "It's necessary for Ethan." She ordered Ariados to push open the door, and she had Meganium drag the thief in.

Lyra rushed in after them. She wanted to diffuse the situation, but the moment she entered and saw Ethan's face, she knew things were not going to go well.

The fourteen year old stared at the trussed-up redhead, his eyes bulging as he slowly rose from his computer chair. His mouth moved, but no words came out; it was like watching a Magikarp gasp for air. Slowly, with a shaky hand, he pointed at the thief. "You're…" his voice rasped, and he started over again. "You're that _son of a bitch. _V-E-R B-R-I."

"That's me," Silver responded in a fairly bored voice. "Okay, so take the Croconaw already if you want him so badly. He's kind of an egotistical shit, just to warn you."

"I fucking know that!" Ethan snapped, marching up to him. "This isn't even about Croconaw anymore!"

"I knew it," Kris muttered to a flabbergasted Lyra. "He feels slighted as a man. If I'd known that sooner, I would've just let him shack up with you."

"What?" Ethan now whirled on Lyra. Copper hissed in warning as Ethan approached her. "You _know _this jackass and you didn't tell me? What the hell is wrong with you?!" he demanded.

Lyra drew back. "I d-don't know him that well. I just m-met him today," Lyra stuttered, her throat thick with tears.

"You should have told me!" he snapped. Copper snarled at him again, but Ethan took little notice of Lyra's beloved partner. "Why would you keep that from me?"

"Because his Croconaw is happy!" Lyra replied frantically. She crossed her arms in something of a defensive measure. "That Croconaw does not want to leave him, so why would I split that up? I don't have the right!" Lyra shouted back.

The assistants had gathered to see what was up, only to leave quickly when Ethan looked daggers at them. He returned his fiery attentions to Lyra and drew a step closer to him. "Who are you loyal to? Some redheaded jackass or me? Do you think that thief is hot or something?" he demanded angrily.

"Shut up." Ethan, Lyra, and Kris turned to see Silver, still held in spot by Meganium's vines and Ariados's webs, glaring furiously at Ethan. "Not that I'm exactly Mr. Manners over here or anything, but holy shit. You two are clearly supposed to be friends or something and you're talking to her like she's evil? What the hell?" he demanded.

Ethan forgot about Lyra and went to shout at him. Her knees were weak; how could one young teenage boy feel so much rage? How could he direct it all at Lyra when the source of his spawned anger was right in front of him? She understood that he would be upset over Lyra not telling him about Silver right off the bat, but the way he had treated her was abnormal and unhealthy. "Qui!" Copper exclaimed (_Lyra, it's okay!)_, trying to comfort her as shocked tears rolled down her face. He licked at her cheek.

As quickly as the shocked and saddened tears had appeared, Lyra wiped them away. Steel had lined her belly, and she marched over to the arguing boys. On her command, Copper spewed flames between the boys, silencing them immediately. "Stop it," she ordered, her voice still thick with unshed tears. "If we're all going to be here a while anyway, let's get comfortable and stop shouting in each other's faces. It's deplorable."

Roughly seven minutes later, they were seated in mismatched chairs found from around the lab. Professor Elm was still up in his office, seemingly unaware of the shouting match that had been going on moments before.

"What the frick is this supposed to do?" Ethan demanded, throwing his arms wide from his place in a spinning office chair. The movement spun him around, and he fought to face forward once more. "Now we're just sitting down like a bunch of Pidgey on a clothesline! And he's not even bound up! What if he picks a fight?"

Silver, who now sat free of the Ariados silk and Meganium vines on a rickety bench, scoffed at his comment. "You're hilarious. Weren't you the one all up in her face about how bad of a friend she was being to you?"

Kris sighed loudly. She sat at her computer on a tall stool with a mug of lukewarm coffee in one hand. "We're going to figure out what to do right now. We're not going to argue. Due to Lyra's abnormally large heart that she wears on her sleeve, we're now in a bit of a pickle."

"How so? He's a criminal. We'll get him arrested and deprogram that Croconaw," Ethan snapped, wringing his hands roughly in his agitation.

Lyra sat near Silver on a stack of encyclopedias with Copper in her lap, glaring at Ethan distrustfully. "His Croconaw didn't want to leave him earlier today. Silver was going to give him up to me, but the Croconaw got angry and refused to go," Lyra explained. "Plus, we don't know Silver's motive. Or anything. You're just dead-set on hating him."

"He threw me aside and called me weak," Ethan sniveled.

"Holy shit. You took it _that _personally?" Silver demanded, half-laughing. "Notice me trying to be all tough guy over here?"

Ethan rose from his seat and started to stride over. "You want to go, you bastard?!" he snarled, rolling up the sleeves of his stick suit.

Lyra tossed Copper around her shoulders and threw herself between Ethan and Silver. "Sit down already! Please stop going for this throat like a rabid Houndoom!" she cried.

"Yeah, if you bit his throat or something, we'd probably have to euthanize you. Not my rules, it's just common sense. We don't want to spread your rabies or whatever it is that's making you this pissy," Kris replied, still sipping at her coffee. Lyra had no clue as to how she remained so calm through the conflict or how she remained so blasé in general.

Ethan still wouldn't back down. Though he was only about two inches taller and ten pounds heavier than Lyra, he seemed so imposing suddenly with his dark expression. Months before, her foster brother would never have worn that face. Seeing it now invoked a deep pity in Lyra; he just couldn't let go of his anger or the personal slight Silver had made rather impersonally.

She was yanked viciously from her reverie as Ethan drew his fist back, clearly having had enough of Silver glower at him. Lyra quickly jumped into action, throwing herself in between them and planting her foot hard against Ethan's left thigh. She twisted her hip into it and managed to push him backward. This movement was enough to rattle him off balance and get him to stop going after Silver. "What the hell?" he snarled.

"Please stop," she ordered. Begging hadn't worked. Maybe sheer force and iron-clad will would contain the storm of negative emotions inside of him. "Sit down, or I will make you sit down myself."

"Quilava!" Copper added loudly from Lyra's shoulders. _Don't be a prick!_

"Do you really want to go, Lyra?!" Ethan snarled. "Do you _want _to fight me?"

"She doesn't," Silver muttered from somewhere behind her, catching her off guard. "She wants you to stop acting like a fucking douche. If you need to talk down to your friend like some adulterous bitch all the time, maybe I was right. You are weak."

That was it. His breaking point had been reached. Lyra saw it for a split second before sharp pain exploded across her cheekbone. It occurred to her that Ethan had potentially just backhanded her—he had once before, in the same game of Truth or Dare in which he also had to kiss her—and she couldn't believe he actually had hurt her. Copper, at her shoulder, was torn between licking the split skin on her left cheekbone and destroying Ethan. Kris stood up hastily, spilling her coffee in the process and rushed over to split up the fight the ensued between Silver and Ethan.

Lyra simply couldn't believe that Ethan had hurt her like that. She mopped the blood from her cheekbone and struggled to get to her feet; her head was ringing from the sudden ferocity of Ethan's attack. "Va, quil" Copper protested fearfully. _Don't get up now; you're hurt._

She shook her head at him. "Stop worrying about me. Worry about them," she added, pointing at the fighting boys.

Though Ethan was nearly head and shoulders shorter than Silver and easily fifty pounds less, he had the edge of painful, all-consuming rage. He pummeled Silver, and it was all he could do to throw his arms up and defend himself. Lyra saw pure terror in his eyes. "Get _off _me!" he snarled, trying to escape the tireless young man. Ethan kicked low and sent Silver tumbling to the floor. He flung himself on top of Silver and began to slam his fists toward the older boy's face, raining blows upon him. Using sheer strength, the thief threw the younger boy off and roared, "That's enough! Isn't that enough for you?" He mopped blood from his mouth with a dangerous sneer; Lyra supposed that some girls would find the gritty, bloodstained expression to be appealing. Yet she was terrified.

"It isn't enough!" Ethan roared.

Lyra rushed toward the boys, but Kris hooked an arm around her waist to keep her out of the melee. "Your face is already bleeding. Ethan is so angry that you might just die," she hissed.

"I don't care! They're hurting each other!" Lyra scrabbled at her arms as she fought to break loose from the older girl's tight grip.

In the short span of a few seconds, a number of things happened.

A wall rattled. Although rattled was something of an understatement, as the wall opposite the combative boys bowed in and nearly broke.

One of the precariously unstable rafters began to creak.

Lyra broke free of Kris's arms and fell in between Ethan and Silver. They both ceased their fighting at her interjection, but it was only Silver who reached out to stop her fall.

The rafter fell right where Lyra had been standing. It brought down part of the roof with it; Kris leapt backwards and avoided the worst of the damage. Lyra, on the other hand, felt something heavy fall onto her shoulder—it hung at a strange angle after.

"Another spatial rend?" Ethan cried, shielding himself from falling debris.

The wall exploded inward violently. Wooden and metallic shrapnel flew through the room, and Lyra screamed in sheer terror as she ducked her face against Silver's torso. Though her face was protected, a number of the deadly shards embedded themselves in her back and legs. The damage was done quickly, leaving a stinky swirl of dust. "What was that?" she heard Kris grumble, coughing loudly. "Spatial rends don't do that. That was weird."

"That's ALL you can say?" Ethan questioned her between hacking coughs.

Lyra lifted her head to survey the damage, her rather close moment with Silver momentarily forgotten. The room was choked with dust. Above her, the ceiling seemed indented in unhealthy ways; too many rafters had fallen to keep the structure stable. "Is everyone okay?" she called. She still had no idea that her shoulder was hanging oddly; her head was rattling too much from the explosion to notice.

Ethan wheezed nearby. It was impossible to tell where he was laying through the thick dust. Kris replied, "I'm not dead but I'm pretty badly cut up. I have all this wood and metal in my arm, too."

Sighing in relief, Lyra began to turn to check on Silver. However, movement caught her eye. She faced forward and blanched; a strange silhouette had emerged from the dust. It looked human…but not human. It seemed like a tall, bipedal Pokémon.

Another rafter creaked. She stared upward; this one was right above her and Silver. Before she could flee or warn Silver, the redheaded thief behind her shoved her forward, toward the tall bipedal Pokémon. She teetered precariously in her new position. Silver moved past her, snagged her arm, and called, "Get us out of here!"

"What—" Just as the roof creaked and groaned against, a blue, pulsating light expanded out from the silhouette. It hit Lyra and a curious, tugging sensation filled her gut. She had barely registered it when everything went jet black.

* * *

Brendan had dozed off against the wall of the holding room wall when the floor rumbled loudly. He opened one eye balefully. "What are they doing out there?" he muttered. Another loud rumble disturbed him.

The Kalosian boy, Calem, shrugged. "I do not know."

"I feel like it's coming from under us," Aurora commented. She had once again been sitting on Aggron's head, scrubbing at that one stain with vigor. "Maybe it's a machine of some sort under the floor?"

"I hope that's all it is," Tino remarked, hugging his Bellossom to his chest.

"Shut up," Iva replied in a sleepy voice. "I'm trying to sleep."

The floor rumbled more violently this time, throwing Aggron and Aurora to the floor. The latter narrowly avoided getting crushed under her Pokémon's back by rolling backward in an agile, acrobatic way. "Are you all right?" Tino cried, rushing over to his younger sister.

"I'm just fine," she grumbled as she brushed her brother's hands off to inspect Aggron for any damage. "Jeez, I just polished his armor and everything, too!"

"Gron," Aggron muttered sadly. _It was so shiny until I banged it up._

The floor burst open where Aggron and Aurora had been just moments before. "Well, fuck. I'm glad we fell out of the way," she commented casually. From the massive wound in the floor rose three Pokémon that made Brendan feel physically ill—Regice, Registeel, and Regirock. Just last year, Regigigas, their Trio master, died attempting to protect the three smaller golems from Aether in the Sinnoh.

Without much warning, Regice shot an Ice Beam directly at Aurora's Aggron.

Brendan sent out his Delcatty and Tropius as Calem, Tino, and Iva readied themselves to battle. "Delcatty, dig under them! Tropius, use Leaf Tornado!"

The Pokémon did as ordered. The golems seemed to be unbothered by the attacks, even though every Pokémon in this room was now involved in the battle. Calem's Altaria fired a Dragon Pulse attack at all three from above, Iva's Blaziken pummeled Regirock with kicks, and Tino's Bellossom worked on putting all three to sleep with a Sleep Powder attack. Aggron was simply a beast. He threw Regirock and Regice into the wall, momentarily stunning them. However, even with a combined total of ten Pokémon and five people against three Legendaries, it simply wasn't doing the trick. The golems seemed utterly unaffected by the violence against them.

Iva cried, "Work together! Our Pokémon are powerful but not powerful enough by themselves!"

Brendan smirked. "Tropius, Sunny Day! Power up Iva's Fire Pokémon!"

Tropius narrowly dodged an Ice Beam and obliged. The room blazed white-hot with fabricated sunshine. Loudly thanking him, Iva had her Flareon blast Regice with a Fire Blast attack that actually seemed to melt some of its ice. "Regiii…" it snarled in a tinny voice. Iva, with Blaziken, Ninetales, and Flareon at her disposal, took on Regice. Aurora directed her Darmanitan and Flygon to assist with their fiery attacks there.

Nearby, Bellossom had sang Regirock to sleep. Brendan took the opportunity to blast it with Tropius's Solar Beam attack. An explosion of stones flew from its form, yet it didn't even wake up the intimidating Rock-type Pokémon.

Calem's Altaria fired a Sky Attack—one of the most powerful moves known to Flying-type Pokémon—at the Registeel, knocking it off its feet. It was quickly beat into submission by Delcatty, who had finally popped out of the ground to attack, and Aggron rendered it unconscious with a devastating Bulldoze.

Soon, Regice and Regirock joined it, both slumped unconscious against the walls of the holding cell. "Are you guys all right?" Aurora called, dusting gravel from her sky blue skirt. "Regirock kind of shot off a load of sharp rocks there and Regice's ice shards didn't come off in a nice way."

Everyone affirmed that little damage had been suffered. Tino had obtained a long cut across his thigh and Iva felt a little woozy from the heat of the fire attacks and Sunny Day, yet that was the worst of it.

Calem began to laugh shakily. "That was wild," he commented, pushing sweaty strands of hair out of his eyes.

Brenda quickly joined him, clasping a hand to his side. "I knew they had some powerful Pokémon at hand but…wow. Sending some inorganic golems through the floor at us?"

Soon, everyone else joined in the laughter. The adrenaline had worn off, leaving a strange giddiness in its place. "Why are we laughing?" Aurora demanded as she wiped tears of amusement from under her eyes. "It's not like that was funny or anything."

"We're exhilarated to be alive, my dear," Iva replied, unable to contain a smile herself.

At that moment, the door to the room slid open. They quickly sobered up and turned to face whatever entered next.

A voluptuous, fair-skinned woman in her early thirties stood there, her arms folded across her ample bosom. Her hair was ruffled and pink, accentuating prominent cheekbones and black, almond-shaped eyes. At her side stood a Zangoose, whose red and white fur matched the color scheme of her short, skintight dress. Brendan marveled at her lack of stick suit; she must have trusted the foundations of the headquarters relatively well in order to walk around without one. "It only took you twelve minutes to take all three down," she said appreciatively. "Fascinating. The last bunch took an hour to defeat one Heatran; we unfortunately had a few human and Pokémon casualties."

"Who are you?" Brendan demanded. He already disliked her; she talked about the death of humans and Pokémon as if it were a mildly fascinating concept instead of a disgusting tragedy.

She strode into the room, hands planted on an impossibly narrow waist; one couldn't help but wonder if she perhaps wore a corset. "My name is Corona. I'm the second-hand woman to our leader." Stopping just shy of Brendan, she poked his hairy cheek with a chilly smile. "As of today, you take orders from me. Your training begins…now."

Corona stepped back from Brendan and tossed a trio of Pokeballs into the air, releasing a Hydreigon, an Arbok, and an Electivire. Zangoose crept forward to join them. Brendan tensed, preparing to battle her with his injured Pokémon, and she held a hand up. "We're not battling, you crumb," she said harshly, dropping all aura of polite interest. "I simply was going to get them used to your scent. These are Pokémon trained to kill outsiders."

The five recruits stood, nearly paralyzed in fear, as the Pokémon walked around them, sniffing, growling, and hissing in distaste at each person. Corona stood, once again smiling. "Now that you will begin your training as members of Aether, I want you to realize that there is no turning back from this point. Had any of you decided to leave while you were waiting in here, it would have been acceptable. From this point forward, you will be severely punished for even talking about leaving, and you will die if you leave. We simply can't let outsiders know what we're really all about," she said with a light shrug.

"That's heavy shit to think about," Aurora commented as one of Hydreigon's tongues rasped across her throat. "How will we get the money to our families?"

"You tell us what account you want the money to be transferred to, obviously," Corona responded. Meeting Brendan's eyes, her lips tipped upward in a teasing smile. "I promise you, they will be well taken care of, since your group is so promising."

Brendan resisted the urge to vomit. He suddenly wondered if this had been the correct way to try and wreak havoc against Aether. Earlier, he should have left. He should have run while he could have.

But he didn't. Now that he was here, he would have to execute his plans or die trying.

* * *

_A/N: Hello. I had most of this update done like 2 days ago but yesterday was kind of a rough day. D: So...here's to one of my longer updates as of yet. I'm pretty sure they've just been increasing in length since I started writing this. Also, I think this is my first update posted at a decent time of day for this fic. Firsts all around._

_So White and N chatted with Reshiram and Zekrom. Kyurem is with Nate. I don't know if or when Nate and Kyurem would show up in this story. I'm sure R and Z will show up again because I love their contrast too much not to. Also, yup, you heard me-White is actually Hilda! Her surname is White. So, everyone say "yo" to Hilda White, soon to be marrying Natural Harmonia Gropius. We need to have a little chat with Game Freak about character names because holy shit imagine being named Hilda Gropius, married to N. H. Gropius. Awkward._

_Who's that Pokemon that suddenly appeared in the damaged lab of Elm's? (I'm gonna bet that there are those of you who can guess what it is) Plus...did the Pokemon do the damage? Or did Ethan's vicious temper do that? Plus, what happened to Lyra? What was Elm doing in this crisis? Turn in for some answers and also some super corny comic relief next chapter!_

_Writing Ethan as being despicably angry and violent is strange. Like I'm used to writing him to be kind of effeminate and a little bit of a derp at times but wow. Writing him as the sort to beat the life out of Silver makes me feel kind of icky. Let's hope the little shit can realize that his rage is not healthy and he needs to calm down. Actually...omg...he hasn't been happy all fic. SOMEONE TAKE AWAY MY KEYBOARD._

_No Serena/Steven/May this chapter! Speaking of Serena, I got a lot of flack in an anonymous review about Serena being her dark-skin preset? I deleted it because I don't want a bunch of racism on my fic, but I always though dark-skinned Serena was really cute. Plus, Pokemon hasn't always been the best about representation so since I have the option to make Serena what I want her to be, I'll do it. Also, on another note, Brendan's last name is Fuertes because 1) "Fuerte" means "strong" in Spanish and Brendan is a strong dude and 2) his new designs make him look like he's potentially Spanish or Hispanic (like Creole, I guess). So Fuertes it is._

_I've also been asked about length on this fic and I'm not sure how long this will be. I'm aiming on completing it by the end of summer/the first few weeks of the school year. It'll be like IBAW length or shorter I think. But if it's not...*shrugs*_

_Anyway, leave a review! I love hearing what you guys think! And also the amount of reviews has slowed down and I'm wondering if I'm boring you guys? Eh. _


	7. Harm

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But if I did, I'd make damned sure that Wally is happy for an eternity because the cute little boy deserves it.**

* * *

"Holy smokes," Ethan muttered, finally finding the strength to wriggle out from underneath the pile of rubble. "That wasn't fun."

The lab, sorely decimated, creaked and groaned from damage. Darting about with wild eyes, the assistants salvaged what they could of their research before another chunk of the roof could collapse inward. Nearby, Kris sat with her back against Meganium's front, perched precariously on a fallen rafter. Her current efforts were projected at removing both splinters and shrapnel from her left arm. However, when Ethan finally clambered out of the wreckage, she paused and pointed the tweezers at him accusatorily. "Don't you feel any remorse?" she asked in a casual tone, but her facial expression and posture were anything but relaxed.

"How is this my fault?" he demanded. "Do I look like I carry explosives and plant them against walls?"

She shook her head at him and then resumed pulling a tiny shard from her wrist. "Those weren't explosives that caused the wall and everything else to do that. It was a Pokémon, actually, but that's not the point. You do understand that Silver took Lyra and teleported, right? Probably because he was afraid that you'd hurt both of—ow—them?" she replied caustically, grimacing as she tugged the metal free and tossed it into her mug.

His heart skipped a beat. When it resumed, the blood flowing through his veins was as cold as liquid nitrogen and twice as inhibiting. "W-what?" he stuttered, looking around the lab wildly. "You can't be serious. Lyra! Quit hiding yourself already!" he shouted.

"Shut your damned mouth," Kris responded sharply, her voice low and cold with barely contained rage. "I saw it happen. Like she'd answer you if you were here, anyway. _You hurt her,_" she added through gritted teeth. Plucking one last shard from her arm, she flexed it experimentally and ordered her Meganium to use Aromatherapy.

Ethan nearly collapsed with the weight of her words. His rage was a blur in his mind. He remembered pummeling that thief—Silver, his name was—and saying some unkind things. Had he actually hurt Lyra, too?

"I…I'm sorry…" he mumbled. Powerful nausea raced through his stomach. He emptied the contents of his stomach where he stood, holding his stomach as if to staunch the sickness brought on by disgust.

Kris watched him, her eyes devoid of sympathy. The wounds on her arm leaked blood even as they healed, but they looked less macabre now. "If we ever track down Lyra, you better say that to her. I don't care to hear it."

Somewhere inside the lab, the sound of a door opening drew the attentions of everyone present. Professor Elm, wearing a sleepy look and a pair of outdated earphones connected to an old-fashioned tape player, stumbled out of his office with bleary eyes. He made it down the relatively unharmed hallway and into the main area, stretching loudly. "Oh, good evening, everyone," he mumbled. Ethan could practically smell his morning breath from where he stood.

Kris raised her eyebrows. "Um. Elm. Did you…sleep through that?"

"Sleep through what?" he asked loudly.

One of the assistants, a girl in her twenties with her arm in a makeshift sling, scurried over to him and tugged his earphones off. "Inside voices," she warned him.

Kris laughed dourly. "Not that there's much of an inside to use inside voices in."

Professor Elm, with his dopey, sleepy grin, opened his eyes and looked around. Quite quickly, the silly look was replaced by one of utter horror. "What happened?!" he shrieked. "We finally just repaired all of this and now it's…just…"

"A lot of things," Ethan admitted sadly.

The professor hung his head in defeat. "I can't believe it. You destroyed my lab…and I slept through it."

"Oh, we didn't destroy your lab," Kris said. "Assess the damage and then we'll have a little chat."

"More like a stern discussion," the jilted man murmured, looking anything but stern as he scoped for damage. "Something is clearly to blame for this."

* * *

It startled Steven as to how well May and Serena had hit it off.

The two women sat on the couch in his tiny house that contained little more than the essentials, and they chatted about more than he and May ever had in years of knowing each other. Serena, with a silly grin, attempted to teach the other woman some common Kalosian phrases, which May stumbled over again and again. In turn, May let her look through the Hoenn Pokedex and comment upon the native species.

He was somewhat jealous at how quickly Serena had broken down May's barriers, but he wouldn't admit that.

She certainly did have Yveltal at her disposal, along with powerful Pokémon such as a cool-eyed Greninja and a fiery flying Pokémon called Talonflame. He thought back upon their meeting.

Steven and May had met Serena on the hill, as they said they would. The Kalosian Champion sat there with her eyes closed, her face turned to the sun peacefully. For a moment, Steven felt bad that he would be interrupting her moment of calm to meet Yveltal, the harbinger of Death, but he shrugged the feeling off. He and May needed to decide if their plan to help Serena take down Aether was a sound one.

Before Steven could gently inform Serena of their presence, May hollered, "Hey! You! Show us you aren't kidding!"

Serena was startled into awareness and clambered to her feet, dusting off the red skirt and sleeveless, collared blouse she wore over her stick suit. "Forgive me," she replied with an awkward smile. "I was taking a moment to enjoy the warmth of the sun."

"This city does get a lot of sun," Steven admitted.

Serena tossed her hair over her shoulder. The friendly look in her eyes from earlier had vanished, leaving nothing but a business-like formality in its place. "Now, you are here to see Death, not to idly…skit-skat?"

"Chit-chat," May corrected.

"_Pardonnez-moi! _That was my second guess!" she cried to the heavens. With a loud sigh, she dug into the pockets of her skirt and drew out a singular Ultra Ball. Battered and ugly, it had certainly seen better days. She held it out to Steven and May. "This holds my consort, Yveltal. The moment I release him, I will look terrifying. He will be terrifying. Do not think of us any differently." They stood in silence as she pressed the button, releasing a terrifying Legendary into the air.

Death was a red and black Pokémon that was easily twenty feet tall, with broad, ragged wings. Its ice blue eyes roved over May and Steven; the latter drew backward a few steps. "Well, you weren't joking," May admitted, gazing upward at the large Pokémon.

Steven's gaze shifted to Serena. Her warm-toned skin had taken on an ashen hue, and her eyes misted in this Pokémon's presence. "Are you okay?" Steven asked her.

An emotionless smile stretched her lips. "_We are fine," _came a response that chilled him to the bone. It was a voice that crept into his mind and also to his ears; the former was male and raspy, and the latter was Serena's. "_Do not be afraid."_

"Trippy," May commented. "How do you do it?"

The ashen hue faded from Serena's skin. Eyes brightening, she replied on her own, "Our souls are linked."

_It is quite the experience, _Yveltal remarked, nudging his human counterpart with his wing.

Serena nudged his wings and laughed; the sound of it was self-conscious. Straightening her skirt, she replied, "It certainly has been."

"You guys sound like lovers," May remarked, one of her eyebrows inching up her forehead. "Are you sure you aren't lovers?"

"That is frowned upon," Serena replied with a laugh. "Of course not."

May snickered. "Well, that's what they all say."

Presently, the women had released their Starter Pokémon. Greninja and Sceptile mirrored each other's moves curiously; neither Pokémon had ever seen one of the other's species before. Serena and May laughed as Greninja's long tongue brushed against Sceptile. "Sceptile, scep," he grumbled. _That's disgusting, and you laughed._

"Okay!" Steven exclaimed, rubbing at the back of his head. "I get that we're all friends here now—"

"Scep!" _Not with Greninja I'm not!_

"—but we really do need to, you know, do something productive."

With a loud chuckle, Serena nudged May. "He is jealous that we have become such good friends already."

Steven sighed. May on her own had been incorrigible, but adding Serena to the mix had proven to be not the greatest of ideas. "We need to plot things."

"Plot? How well have plots gone so far?" May responded, tossing her hands into the air. "Didn't the last plot you made end up killing Drake and Glacia?"

He didn't respond to that. His stomach hurt. His soul hurt. His chest hurt; it felt oddly tight. Turning on his heel, he moved toward the door. "Steven? Where are you going?" May asked.

"Doesn't matter. Stay here," he ordered her as he looked over his shoulder at her. The look on his face had to be anything but warm and friendly, as she simply nodded without comment. Pushing the door open, he exited his house. The mid afternoon sun scorched his skin, but it didn't bother him. Steven released Metagross, his first Pokémon, and commanded, "We're going to the Space Center. I need to cool off."

_Do you not feel well? _The Pseudo-Legendary asked him, tapping his clawed foot on the ground. Although Metagross were genderless physically, they often mentally possessed some sort of gender and preferred certain pronouns to be used.

His chest seemed to be tightening. "Something is seriously wrong," he whispered, clambering onto his closest friend's metallic carapace. "I feel ill."

Metagross set off toward the Space Center. His clawed feet left deeply imprinted footprints upon the earth. He replied, _You're having a panic attack._

"May blamed me for Drake and Glacia's deaths. It's like those awful days six years ago all over again," he whispered. They passed various citizens on their way to the Space Center, who whispered at the appearance of a rather bedraggled Champion on the back of a Metagross.

_Please breathe, _was all Metagross remarked.

Steven did as he was told. The tight feeling in his chest wouldn't go away, but his heart was slowing down from its impossible rate. At the base of the long set of stairs leading to the Space Center, he buried his face in his hands. "I shouldn't have let that bother me."

_It would be easy if you were open about it, _Metagross responded. _You hide it so well and then beat yourself up if it gets out of control._

"I'm not telling May," Steven said firmly.

_Why not?_

"She'd laugh. I'm some privileged rich boy," he replied.

Metagross huffed a sigh. _I doubt she would laugh. She may be callous and impossible at times but she is not cruel._

"She just blamed me for Drake and Glacia's deaths, though."

_Clearly a slip of the tongue. It was a bad one, but I doubt she meant that._

He scratched at his jaw and met the resistance of stubble and hollow cheeks. With a loud sigh, Steven massaged his chest. It still hurt; his mouth tasted of iron. "I won't tell her," he said stubbornly.

_It's your decision, but I find it to be particularly stupid, _Metagross retorted.

He sighed and sprawled on Metagross's back. "But everything seems so stupid to you."

_Just relax, _Metagross ordered. _You will be okay._

* * *

Lyra came around very suddenly, sitting bolt-upright. Her first conscious thought related to how badly her right shoulder hurt. The second thought that crossed her mind was that her stick suit was unzipped to her waist and the sleeves were tied around her hips.

She ignored the latter tidbit of information and tried to decipher where she was. The room was dim, dusty, and vast; the red and gold wallpaper seemed to be antiquated and peeling near the corners. Lyra noticed windows, but they seemed to be covered by translucent gray stretch fabric that only just let in the last rays of sunlight. White sheets covered the majority of the furniture, save for the cot Lyra had been sleeping on. Copper, coated in bandages, slept at the foot of the bed, and Lumi's Pokeball and her backpack containing the mysterious egg sat on the night table nearby.

Wherever she was, her Pokémon were safe, and she seemed to be okay, aside from intense pain in her shoulder. She twisted around to look at it; a deep, mottled bruise marked the skin there. Immediately Lyra knew that her shoulder had been dislocated and then popped back in. "That's ugly," she muttered, poking at it and wincing.

She slipped out of bed, leaving Copper to sleep peacefully in the name of recovering. Like his Trainer, he had sustained injuries and needed to recover.

Now that she had some familiarity with the room, she needed to figure out where she and her Pokémon had ended up after Silver had grabbed her back at the lab.

Before she left, she tried to shimmy back into her stick suit. Due to the pain and limited mobility of her shoulder, Lyra wasn't able to do it. She sighed loudly and let it be; her sports bra covered her anyway.

She made her way over to the door and turned the knob. It was unlocked; that was a good sign. Bumping it open with her hip, she examined the hallway. Old-fashioned wall lamps lit it warmly as it extended for long distances in both directions. Aside from her doorway, however, there were only three other doors. One was curiously chained off, another was simply covered by draping red fabric, and the third seemed to lead into a bathroom. A Sneasel seemed to be playing with the bathroom scale just inside of the doorway.

"Hey, Sneasel!" Lyra called, her voice tiny and dry. "Where am I at?"

Much to her shock, the Pokémon very clearly replied in a nasally voice, "That's for me to know and you to find out."

Lyra scrabbled her hands to her ears. Surely enough, a tiny device sat in one ear. A translator. When had she gotten a translator? Also, who had put her shoulder back in? She pointed accusatorily at the Sneasel and demanded, "Where am I? Who's your Trainer?"

"Uh, Silver? Duh? And honestly, shut up. It's up to Silver to answer any questions," he replied. Before Lyra could ask anything more, he darted off, leaving Lyra to stand alone in the hallway.

She groaned. "Petulant little bugger."

Lyra followed him anyway. Questions swarmed her mind. How had she gotten here? It was obvious that Silver had something to do with it, but what was his motive? Hell, why had even come back to talk to her in the first place earlier that day?

At the end of the hall was a single staircase. She gingerly walked down it; it was an old wooden staircase and she was barefoot. _One sliver and I'll kick someone's ass, _she decided. Her patience for the day had essentially worn out.

The stairs ended in a large living room of sorts, but it looked as though it had been eons since anyone had lived in it. She scanned around, saw two more doorways, and went toward the one that was lit up—it seemed to be a kitchen of some sort. As she neared it, she heard voices. One of them she recognized—Silver's. Another was older and more masculine; there was an aged, painfully apathetic quality to it. A third voice was similar to Silver's, but also older and seemed to be coming over some sort of device.

Lyra padded to the doorway and leaned against the doorframe, listening carefully.

"I'm not coming back," Silver said flatly to someone. "Nor is he. You can kiss my ass, Dad."

Giovanni? Lyra listened more closely as the boy's father sighed loudly. "Stop referring to that abomination as a "he". That Pokémon is my property. I don't care that you disagree with the weaponization program; that is millions of dollars of research and experimentation walking around with you."

"I never belonged to you. It's not _your _DNA inside of me," the apathetic voice replied.

"Close enough!" Giovanni snapped. "My son's DNA is half of mine!"

Silver cut him off by sharply snapping, "Fascinating. See ya, Daddy-o."

Giovanni's angry protests were silenced. Someone heaved a heavy sigh; Lyra was certain that it was Silver. "I can't believe this shit," he remarked. "Can you believe this shit?"

There was a pause. When it was interrupted, it was the apathetic voice replying, "What's more unbelievable is that your guest has heard a large chunk of this conversation."

"What?!" Silver sounded flustered. Lyra drew away quickly from the doorway as the redhead appeared, his eyes livid. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded of her.

"I think that's what I should be asking you," Lyra responded tersely. Silver seemed surprised by her lack of patience. "Where am I? Why did you drag me here?" she asked, gesturing around with her good arm.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you an idiot? Do you understand how much trouble you'd be in if I left you there?" Silver snapped, releasing his nose only to fold his arms angrily across his chest. "You failed to report about a crime, and a serious one at that."

"You didn't commit a crime today," she replied. Then, she remembered the exploding wall at the lab. "Unless you blew up the lab," she commented.

"That was me," said the apathetic voice. "I'm sorry."

Silver sighed loudly. "I committed a _felony _when I stole a Pokémon. It might have been six months ago, but you didn't tell anyone that you saw me today. You didn't tell anyone that you let me go today. You'd be in almost as much trouble as me. So, a 'thank you' would be nice," he finished, a threatening note in his voice.

"No. I'm not going to thank you. You and Mr. Flat Voice in there kidnapped me and my Pokémon," she replied harshly, jabbing her finger into his chest. It probably hurt her more than it hurt him—his chest was solid.

He squatted down to her level, his eyebrows raised. Something about being at his face level made him more terrifying than when he stood at his full height. He grabbed her hand, where it was still poking into her chest, and whispered, "Consider yourself lucky that you're some 'kidnap victim' instead of a criminal right now."

"Why do you care?" Lyra asked emotionlessly, trying to tug her hand free to no avail. "Why does it bother you that I'd go to jail for failure to report that I'd encountered some felon?" With her free hand, she poked at her ear. "You put a translator in my ear. Chances are that you and your friend fixed my shoulder and probably the cuts on my back, too. I can't even feel them. So, let me ask you again: why do you care?"

He pulled away from her. "I…don't know," he responded, suddenly quiet. "I honestly don't."

"Coming from a lying thief, that's real cute," Lyra replied. She headed for the kitchen. "Maybe your friend will be honest?"

"Don't go—" Silver's protests died as Lyra entered the kitchen and found herself looking upon a strange, gray Pokémon that stood over six and a half feet tall. With purple eyes, he eyed her with faint curiosity. Silver rushed in after her and sighed. "Don't you know when to haul ass, you idiot?" he groaned.

The Pokémon approached Lyra. "So. You're the one with the brown Quilava."

"His name is Copper," she corrected automatically, "and that's an interesting way to be known."

"Fascinating," he replied. Turning to Silver, he commented, "I can see why you like her so much. She isn't bad as far as humans go."

"You _like _me?" Lyra asked incredulously.

Without answering her, Silver asked, "So, Mewtwo, why didn't you say anything about her eavesdropping before she heard that conversation with Daddy Dearest?"

"Why should I?" Mewtwo replied, examining his orbed fingers with a disinterested air. "I'm not a censor."

"Well maybe you should fucking do that before we have to explain this bullshit to Lyra!" the thief snapped back angrily.

Lyra rolled her eyes. Bringing her fingers to her lips, she whistled to get their attentions. After a great deal of wincing and garbled curses, she gazed up at the tall human and Pokémon alike. "Okay. So. You guys are idiots," she concluded, "but different types. According to Mewtwo, you like me, Silver, and that explains everything and nothing at the same time. And according to Giovanni, you two share DNA. In short, some really funky genetics projects are going on," she concluded. "Do enlighten me."

Silver was too busy sputtering, so Mewtwo took over. "I am the progeny of Mew's DNA, Silver's DNA, and Team Rocket's evil ingenuity. Two of the three explain why I'm a heartless dick, and you choose which two."

"I'm gonna say it wasn't Mew," Lyra remarked, "but what do I know? I don't know a Mew. So, why Silver's DNA?"

"At the time he was a child, and for whatever reason they thought that a child's DNA would make me obedient," Mewtwo answered calmly. He snorted. "Apparently they think a child's obedience is a genetic component."

Silver had finally recovered enough to say, "Giovanni also wanted to raise Mewtwo with me in some militaristic way so I could one day control him as a weapon, since we were linked genetically."

"It didn't really work. I escaped nine years ago with Silver's help. Silver did not want to be trained to use me as a weapon, and I felt more like a human than a Pokémon—I wasn't okay with being controlled. Silver then left in the past two years, as Team Rocket was working with scientists from Aether to weaponize other Legendaries."

Lyra raised her eyebrows quizzically. Exhausted by simply walking around, she pulled out a drawer to act as a foothold in the name of sitting on the counter. "What is this 'weaponized Legendary' stuff?" she asked.

"You know those missing Legendaries?" Silver asked.

"Like Articuno and those guys?" she replied. The trio of birds from the Kanto had been declared missing about a year ago.

Silver simply nodded. "Many Pokémon that are missing from Earth right now were taken to become weaponized. It's a really fucking ugly process. They're doing horrible things to their bodies to force them to obey commands. So I told Dad to cut that shit out. He said no. So I left."

Lyra blinked. "So. You have a heart."

"Shut up," Silver commented, but his cheeks were pink as he said it.

She gazed steadily at the two. "So. Are you working to cut that stuff out?"

"Yeah, duh," Silver replied, rolling his eyes.

"Then why steal a Totodile and kidnap me if you don't like the Legendaries being kidnapped?" she questioned. "It doesn't add up."

"Sneasel needed a training partner that couldn't potentially break his spine every time they fight," Silver explained. Frowning, he moved over to her and planted his fists a few inches outside of her thighs. Something about this pose, with him leaning in close to her, fencing her body in with his muscular torso, made Lyra feel almost excited and a little apprehensive as opposed to offended at his intrusion. "We've already been over why we took you here, idiot."

"Because I'm adorable and you got to partially undress me to set my shoulder?" Lyra asked, smiling at him.

He peeled away, throwing his hands in the air. "I fucking give up on you."

Turning to Mewtwo, who seemed completely unbothered by the exchange, she asked, "So, if I can't go back because Silver would cry if I became a felon, can I get on board Team No Weaponized Legendaries?"

"It couldn't hurt, I suppose," Mewtwo replied blithely while Silver shouted, "No!"

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Lyra demanded. "Can I just go home and face the consequences? I mean, jeez, it's dishonest enough that you've victimized me in the name of not getting me in trouble or whatever. Am I just supposed to sit around here and have you bitch at me all the time?" The last portion, clearly aimed at Silver, made the thief bristle.

He sighed, rubbing at his neck through the shiny fabric of his stick suit. "Arceus, LYRA. If you want to go home, just go the fuck home. But it'll be a long journey for someone like you who's too stupid to realize the importance of water types."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lyra demanded. "Are you gonna tell me where I am?"

Silver rolled his eyes. "We're in Kanto. Welcome to Viridian City, former home of Giovanni. Best of luck getting back to Newbark Town on your own."

* * *

_A/N: Hello, it is I, Mars. I apologize for the longer wait for this update. I went hiking yesterday and also saw a movie after-otherwise I would've finished this and posted it last night or so. Once again, updating at night, but what can I do? That's just how my schedule works._

_So I've noticed that a common theme in this chapter is accidentally hurting someone. Like Ethan didn't mean to be a douche to Lyra, May didn't realize that she'd triggered Steven, and Silver doesn't get that Lyra would rather be in trouble for something rather than being dishonestly cloistered away._

_Will Ethan fixate on Lyra's disappearance now? Only time will tell..._

_And yes. Steven has some PTSD behaviors going on __from watching Glacia, Drake, and Rayquaza die_. I'd kind of hinted at them before. Someone I'm very close to has PTSD and they've described the onset of it as first"tasting like blood" and then "hurting badly in the chest". Blood tastes like iron. So I'd kind of mentioned that before, in case you were feeling like that diagnosis came out of nowhere because a certain editor of mine (cough cough) was feeling that I just sprang it from out of nowhere.

_Lyra is always a victim, but she never really considers herself victimized. Also, Silver apparently likes her. Lyra is somewhat amused. Silver certainly is not. Awkward days ensue._

_So after this point there is going to be some sort of time leap (not a big one, but the events of the past few chapters all took place on the same day). Also, the Johto group may not be very heavily focused upon next chapter because they've all been getting too much attention. _

_Please leave a review, because I'd love that. Also, have a nice evening (day?) and enjoy life, especially for those of you who are on summer breaks and are still recuperating from the strain of school. I know I am._


	8. Revelation

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But if I did I'd have enough money to start a non-profit organization that benefits children who are raised by single parents in societies where the single parents are stigmatized.**

* * *

Training was indeed one of the most brutal things during Aether's training of the five recruits. Not only did it train their Pokémon, but it trained their bodies and minds. Restful nights did not exist—captured Legendaries and other powerful Pokémon would leap from the floor and drop from the ceiling to attack them while the five attempted to sleep. Meal times were often punctured by medics rushing through the underground mess hall with injured recruits from earlier groups.

It was not a peaceful place.

Currently Brendan tested his sprained left wrist while laying on the lower bunk of the bunk bed he and Calem shared—an injury sustained from yet another round with the golems. It was swollen grotesquely and barely moved. With his right wrist, he scratched at his chin as best as he could around the damned beard. Two weeks he had been here and all he wanted to do was run.

Yet, he couldn't. He had already wowed his superiors with his leadership, his resourcefulness, and his skill in battling—except for the pink-haired woman Corona. No matter what he did, she seemed less than impressed. "Not bad," was all she would say after he defeated yet another Legendary singlehandedly or took down yet another trainee in hand-to-hand combat.

Not that he cared to impress her, but she wondered what his trouble with him was.

"Brett?" came Calem's voice from the top bunk. Brendan took a second to realize that he was being spoken to with his fake name. "You keep shuffling around. Are you awake?"

"Yeah," he whispered back.

Calem dropped to the floor gingerly—his ankle was currently bound up to prevent swelling from some minor injury—and sat at the end of Brendan's bunk. "I have a question," he stated quietly.

"What?"

"Who have you joined for?" he asked. "You seem too good at these things to be someone who is reluctantly doing this for the sake of a loved one."

Brendan sat and thought for a moment, wondering how to safely respond to that. Aether had listeners everywhere. A few days ago, at lunch, a young girl with a trio of Shiftry, hardly fourteen, had been hauled off for questioning after she had been caught calling her parents. She had been reprimanded and let off, but Brendan could imagine worse things would happen if he came out and said that he wanted to destroy the organization from inside out.

So, he stuck to the emotions behind it. By tearing down Aether, he would be able to protect his friends, right? Brendan said, "I want to protect my two best friends."

"What are they like?" Calem asked curiously.

"One is too smart for her own good and the other is too kind for his own good," he replied, smiling as he thought about May and Steven. "They've been the best friends I could ask for through all of this."

"Do you not have family that you need to protect?" he asked.

"My parents split. They don't talk to me or each other, really. My mother moved back to her home region because Dad didn't pay attention to her when he worked and I wasn't really around." He sighed sadly. "What about you? Friends and family?"

"I will be honest and say I am here to protect the life of a Pokémon: a very important Pokémon," he said. Without any more elaboration, he scrambled back to the top bunk. "Keep your family and friends in mind. You never know what you're missing until it is gone."

Brendan decided not to ask Calem to elaborate. He had his own secrets. How hypocritical would it be for Brendan to force him to speak when he couldn't be open about his true motives? Minutes later, he dozed off, having put the conversation to the back of his mind.

Morning came with minimal disturbance; Aurora had called out her Mightyena to deal with a Gothitelle during the night, but that was about all that Brendan remembered. Tiredly, the five shuffled to the mess hall to begin eating. Brendan stared at his butter-less toast and glass of milk that had likely expired a few days ago and yawned loudly. "I slept mostly through the night for the first time in a while, and I'm still tired," he admitted to the other five.

"You can say that again," Tino retorted grumpily. His mood deteriorated further the more tired he became. "I'm _exhausted._"

A fully-instated member of Aether, a rail-thin, middle-aged man named Paolo, stumped behind Tino and whacked the back of his head. "You'll be more exhausted if you don't stop complaining. I can beat the shit out of you, son."

As soon as he walked away, Iva, tearing apart her toast with a disgusted expression, remarked, "What a dirty _godemiché. _He should not speak to young ones like that."

Calem snickered. Brendan leaned toward him and whispered, "What did she say?"

"She called him…um…I do not know the word for it in your language. It's like a long…" Calem whispered a description into Brendan's ear. His eyes wide, the Hoennese boy clapped a hand to his forehead, laughing.

"What's the word for that?" Calem asked curiously.

"Dildo. That's the word you're looking for," he replied.

The sound of a throat clearing behind them made them turn their attentions to yet another passerby. This person was entirely unfamiliar to them and perfectly androgynous. Their lack of uniform marked their status as a higher-up or administrator. Unlike Corona and many other higher-ups, who tended to walk around in revealing clothing without a stick suit, this person had a pale, silvery stick suit on underneath a wide-necked white top with bulky but fashionable black boots. Their hair was dark and shaggy, falling into eyes that were a toxically bright shade of blue. Perched on this person's shoulder was an Emolga. "What a fascinating conversation," stated the administrator. Like their clothing and body type, the person's voice gave no clue to their gender; it just seemed low and conniving.

"He started it," Calem said, pointing to Brendan.

"Don't throw me under the bus!" he hissed.

The administrator laughed, and it was a fairly low sound. Perhaps they were speaking to a man? "I'm not here to get either of you in trouble. There is a chat that I need to have with Mr. Brett Parr in private."

Brendan scrambled to his feet. "Yes, uh…sir?"

Once again, the administrator laughed. "I'm not a 'sir'."

"Uh…ma'am?" he tried, blushing profusely.

Shaking their head, the administrator replied, "I don't identify as either gender. Don't feel obligated to call me either. But you may call me Cruz."

"Cruz," Brendan repeated. "Is that your last name or your first?"

"Neither, but that doesn't really matter. Walk with me." Brendan kept pace with the individual. Though Brendan himself wasn't particularly tall for a man—he was only a little over five and a half feet tall—he was still taller than Cruz, who seemed to only be a few inches over five feet. "Now, I don't work with recruits much anymore, Mr. Parr," they said, snatching an orange from an unsuspecting boy's tray. They began to peel it as they talked. "I've heard incredible things about you, though."

"Two weeks and I already have a reputation," Brendan muttered.

"Precisely," Cruz garbled around a slice of orange they had hastily stuffed into their mouth. Swallowing, they continued, "I apologize. I haven't eaten this morning and I doubt I'll be able to eat until night at this point. My department works tirelessly."

Brendan raised his eyebrows. "What department are you working for?"

Cruz had forced a large chunk of the fruit into their mouth once more, and Brendan had to wait for the administrator to finish. "The research department. I'm in charge of the Legendaries here, more specifically."

"Wow," was all Brendan could manage to say. Suddenly he wanted to punch Cruz and run; those damned Legendaries had been enslaved to keep every recruit up at all hours of the night.

Cruz glanced at him. "I sense that you're not impressed…they've been keeping you up a lot, I'll bet. Well, that's fine. You don't have to like me, but I'm certainly fond of what I've heard about you. I think you'd be a great candidate for something brand new."

Brendan tried to look politely interested instead of slightly murderous. "What's this 'brand new' thing?" he asked.

The pair had exited the mess hall when Cruz's face split into a bright smile. "It's a fantastic thing, Mr. Parr," the administrator said, cupping their cheeks with long-fingered hands. "We're able to control the Legendaries. Currently, it's with computers, but we find that growing old fast. Programming can't account for changes in the field, and thus, we need something that can account for the unpredictable nature of opponents."

"Go figure," Brendan grumbled.

"What we need is a smart, capable person willing to potentially be harmed to control a Legendary," Cruz said. Gazing up at Brendan, they raised an eyebrow. "You are one of four potential controls."

"Why me? Why a recent recruit?" Brendan demanded. "Don't you think that's kind of stupid?"

Cruz shook their head. "No. Not at all. A recent recruit will not have nearly as much deprogramming to do. The obedience and strict battling skills you learn—those aren't what we want. We're not looking for cookie cutter soldiers. We need someone who can think for themselves and be creative."

"You think I'll be good at that?" Brendan asked tetchily.

"Most certainly."

"Who are the others?"

"Aurora Nunez, with whom you are familiar. John West, late twenties, recruited two months ago, a Rock and Ground specialist. And also…I am a potential candidate," Cruz added with a shrug. "I don't agree with the assessment but I'm willing to give it a go."

The cogs in Brendan's mind spun wildly. Did he dare do this? If he was paired with a Legendary and essentially had free will, there were all sorts of unbelievably horrid things he could do to Aether. "Count me in," he decided immediately. "I want to do this."

"Grand. Follow this hallway to the silver door at the end marked 'Test Facility'. I will need to speak with Ms. Nunez and Mr. West." Cruz gave a smile that didn't quite reach those startlingly bright blue eyes. "I will meet you there with those two later."

Brendan followed orders, heading down the metallic hallway. A sick, sly grin split his lips; the grandest of opportunities had been dropped onto his plate, and he damned well better take advantage of it.

* * *

Bitterly cold snow slapped at Blue's uncovered face as he made the trek to the summit of Mt. Silver with Leaf at his side. Although to say "at his side" was to describe the situation loosely, as Leaf was a good thirty feet ahead of him at all times. She wore only a thin jacket, jeans, and boots laced over her stick suit, but she didn't even seem cold.

"Do you even feel anything?" Blue roared over the wind at his old friend.

Leaf simply looked back. Her face wasn't even red from exertion or cold. Blue began to question her humanity. Even Red bitched about the cold at times on the mountain top; when had Leaf ever complained?

He honestly couldn't remember.

His childhood friend, for what was probably the first time since they began climbing the mountain that morning, called down, "We're close to the top. Pick up the pace."

"My ass muscles are liquefied! Not happening!"

Though he couldn't hear her sigh, he almost felt it. She dug into her pocket and released a large Rock-type Pokémon—an Onix. The Rock Snake Pokémon made her way down the mountainside before picking up Blue in her mouth. "Put me down!" he screeched, disgusted by the Pokémon's sludgy, earthy saliva. "This is undignified for a Kantonese Gym Leader."

Notably, they did make it to the top of Mt. Silver were Red sat waiting much more rapidly than if Leaf had to stop and wait for Blue. Years spent training his Pokémon and only sparingly making it to a gym for people had left him softer than he'd ever been while journeying. Leaf, on the other hand, who completely ignored the state of the world and still worked on completing Professor Oak's National Pokedex, likely climbed a mountain like this weekly.

At the top, they were greeted by Red's Pikachu, who launched himself with aggressive affection into Leaf's arms. She simply smiled and kissed the top of his head. "Where's your human?" she asked him as Onix dropped Blue unceremoniously onto the ground.

"Pika!" Pikachu pointed across the peak to a pair of lonely figures silhouetted in the swirling snow: a portly Charizard and the lanky, lonely figure of Red.

Blue got to his feet, dusted powdery snow from his jacket, and started off in the direction of his reclusive friend, his "liquefied ass" slowing him every step of the way. "Red! Leaf and I need to talk to you!"

Red turned around slowly to face him. Much like Blue, he had a dense winter coat on, zipped all the way to his chin. Years ago he would try and sit up here without a jacket on, but that no longer happened. "So you finally left the gym to see me," Red commented.

"No one challenges me there anymore. The League basically collapsed. So, why not come up here?" he replied, shaking more snow from his coat.

Red raised his eyebrows. "You hate coming up here. What's really up?" His voice was thin.

Blue waited for Leaf and Onix to catch up. It would be easier to have this conversation if Leaf, in all of her levelheaded serenity, was present. "Well, there's something we need to talk about."

Before Red could inquire into what that was, Leaf walked straight up and said, "It's time to come down."

"Why? The world is just falling apart. What makes you think I should come down?" Red asked her harshly. "What makes you think I want to come down?"

Blue rubbed at his forehead before responding. He needed to word the next part carefully as to not upset his friend's psyche. "So. I'm the Gym Leader in Viridian City. And…well…things get boring these days because no one challenges the Gym anymore, right?"

"Right," Red affirmed warily.

"So in being bored, I've gotten very familiar with Viridian City." Blue paused. "Too familiar. I spent a lot of time messing around Giovanni's abandoned mansion, actually, and…well…there's some weird shit happening there."

"Such as?"

"There are lights on," Blue remarked, his nose wrinkling up.

Red could tell that there was more to his story than that. He cocked his head. "What else?"

"It looks lived in. And my Exeggutor's psychic abilities keep sensing the presence of a very strong Psychic-Type. I think Giovanni is in there doing more Mew experiments. He might be making another Mewtwo," Blue concluded.

It surprised him that Red snickered. "Why are you laughing at me?" Blue demanded.

"That's a wild conclusion to jump to so quickly," Red commented.

Growling in annoyance, the Champion's former rival snipped, "Everyone else avoids that place! It's fishy!"

"I also saw a young, redheaded man roaming the grounds from my Fearow's back," Leaf added.

That seemed to make Red think for a moment. The man stood there, wiping snow from the brim of his cap, and he seemed to be pondering something. "Giovanni's son is a redhead," he remarked. "Is he now involved with Team Rocket? I remember overhearing some conversation a few years back between some grunts on the Sevii Islands about how he refused to get involved in the family business."

"Maybe he is now," Blue said. "Just…come down. Please. Help us check the place out."

"Do you really need me that badly?" Red asked, smiling at his old friend.

Leaf nodded. "We kind of miss you, too, you know."

The obvious decision was made in Red's eyes. "Well, might as well come on down and take a look. I haven't seen green grass in a long time."

* * *

Two weeks. That was how long she'd been cooped up in this house with only her Pokémon, a moody Silver, and Mewtwo for company. And that Sneasel, but did he really count? He was even ruder than his Trainer.

Like Silver had said, there wasn't a way for her to get home without a swimming Pokémon. The leap from Kanto to Johto could only be made by those means. Thus, she was stuck here, listening to Silver plot with Mewtwo only to get shut out.

Gazing out the top window of the mansion that Giovanni formerly inhabited, Lyra stared out across the sprawling grounds with a sigh. The attic was peaceful here, and she oftentimes escaped here when Silver in particular got on her nerves.

"Is it that I'm too weak, Copper?" she asked her Starter.

The bronze-backed Pokémon gazed up at her in sleepy annoyance. He had dozed off on her lap while she sat on the window sill, gazing out at the ill-kempt gardens outside. "Too weak for what?" he asked. With the translator in her ear, she could hear Copper's true voice—he sounded young and a bit soft-spoken, like Ethan before he seemed to have lost all sanity.

"Too weak to be of any help to them. They're out plotting to save Legendaries from his dad and Aether and they don't really even let me in on it," she said.

Lumi, who had taken it upon herself to play with Lyra's shoelaces, muttered, "Why would you want to be in on that? They kidnapped you." Her voice was smooth and pleasant to listen to; something about it made her sound like a concerned but gentle mother.

"True," Lyra muttered. "But…I guess it was for a good reason and all, in his mind. He didn't want me to get in trouble."

Copper sneezed; the dust seemed to be getting to him. "Stop looking for redeeming qualities in this boy. He's not letting you go home. You should call the police, get us out of here, and get that jerk arrested."

Lyra rested her head back against the frame and massaged her formerly dislocated shoulder with her good hand. Two weeks had eradicated the ugly colors of the bruise and most of the pain, but it felt lumpy and knotted at times. "Serves me right for not dodging, huh?" she remarked to herself.

It was a surprise to her when the attic door opened to reveal Silver. Mewtwo sometimes came and joined her mostly wordlessly; Lyra found this to be a compliment, as he didn't seem to be particularly trusting of anyone. Yet, Silver's appearance didn't seem like much of a compliment. It almost felt like an insult after how awkward and angry many of their exchanges had been in this house. Focusing her attentions on Copper, she ignored how awkwardly the thief just stood there.

"Lyra?" She found herself interested by how quietly he said her name.

Turning to gaze at him, she found him looking almost…barren. Not angry. Not happy. Not sad. Just blank. "What is it?" she asked, curious as to how his face had suddenly become so devoid of emotion.

"Why are you always up here?" he asked. Some life returned to his eyes as he added, "It's dusty as hell. I mean, not that the rest of the house isn't, but it's bad up here."

Lyra sighed loudly. "You're excluding me from everything. You and Mewtwo just sit there all in cahoots and I'm not good enough for you guys. If you're just going to drag me away from everything I know because you think I'll get in a boatload of legal trouble, why don't you use me for something? Maybe Copper and Lumi aren't the strongest—"

"You feel like buzzing your whole head this time?" Copper interrupted, his back beginning to burn once again, but Lumi shushed him with a slap of her long, orbed tail.

"—but neither are your Sneasel or Croconaw, for that matter," Lyra concluded, her eyebrows raised. "Aside from your bond with Mewtwo, what makes you so special? Why can you do this and not me?"

Silver scratched at his neck, which drew Lyra's attention to the defined shape of his jaw. Maybe he was a jerk, but at least he was a good-looking one. "Look, Lyra, I got you in enough trouble already. What I'm doing is highly illegal," he said, perching on a sheet-swathed desk.

"Shocking," she muttered to herself. With her focus on Silver, she didn't notice that her Egg bag seemed to be twitching.

He met her gaze. "What do you want me to do?" he demanded.

"Either you let me in on this, or you help me get home. I'm not hanging around here like this anymore. If I'm going to make my family worry sick about me, then I need a good reason to do it," Lyra announced. She pushed Copper onto her shoulders and scooped up Lumi under one arm. "Make your choice."

She went to grab her bag and noticed it was shaking. "Oh Arceus," she whispered. Quickly she sat down again and tugged the bag into her lap.

"What?" Silver asked, drawing closer.

"The egg," she whispered as she folded the yellowish stick fabric down to expose the Pokémon egg in its compartment, "is actually hatching."

Silent minutes passed, interrupted only the crackle of the red and blue speckled egg as the baby worked its way out. A small, creamy arm wriggled free of the shell, quickly followed by tiny feet, another arm, and then finally a sweet face.

Lyra stared at the baby Pokémon, who blinked up at her with bleary eyes. "Mama?" it squeaked.

She couldn't help but grin. "Hi, little one," she whispered, dragging the baby Pokémon to her chest. "I'm gonna call you Speckle."

"Mama," Speckle garbled again. Lyra decided that the voice belonged to a female.

"Do you even want to know what species that is?" Silver asked rather obnoxiously.

Lyra smiled. "It's not that important, but sure."

"Ever heard of the Togepi line?" he began dryly.

The girl blanched. Togepi line. It had been said that the line had gone extinct within the past decade; they had become so rare up until that point that she had never even seen pictures of them. All she knew was that Togepi, the baby Pokémon, hatched to only the purest people.

"I…hatched…" She looked down at Speckle, her Togepi. "…a dead Pokémon."

"I'm cold, Mama," Speckle complained.

"Here…uh…Uncle Copper can help?" Lyra offered.

Copper, entranced by the rare Pokémon, slunk off her shoulder and wrapped himself around Speckle. She sighed contentedly. "Warm," she mumbled. Meanwhile, Lumi swished her tail around, letting Speckle giggle and coo at the bright light flickering inside of its orb.

Lyra looked up and found Silver watching her intently. She blushed. "Stop staring."

"Apparently you're good enough of a person to attract Pokémon that like purity," he said, scratching at his chin.

"So suddenly I'm useful?" Lyra asked quietly, doing her best to keep the derision from her voice. She didn't want Speckle to pick up on that.

Silver shrugged. "I wonder what else you've been attracting." Lyra didn't know what he meant by that, nor did she feel inclined to inquire about it. He stood up and headed toward the door, and then paused, glancing back rather sheepishly. The expression did not seem to belong on a face normally set in cruel angles. "Lyra…uh…yeah. Stop hiding around up here. It's dusty and uh…you'll track it all over the house. And that's disgusting." Then, he slipped out the door, leaving it to sit wide open.

Lyra knew he didn't care about the dust, but more than before, she knew that she had piqued his rather fickle interests. Drawing slow circles across Speckle's head, she asked to no one in particular, "Was that an invitation to, you know, take part in this whole Legendary rescue thing?"

"That's how I interpreted it," Lumi said helpfully.

"No," Copper growled. Speckle trilled loudly and began to tear up at the aggressive note in her "uncle's" voice. Taking a deep breath, he calmed his voice and said, "You only impressed him because you have a Togepi."

"Who hatched for _me,_" Lyra remarked, nudging his ear. "Don't be so curmudgeonly."

He sighed loudly, but that was the only noise that would be made by the Starter.

Lyra set him on the floor and wrapped Speckle tightly into her arms. She felt as light as a child's volleyball in the human's arms. "Let's go down there. We need to worm our way in to the situation."

* * *

_A/N: Hello! I wanted to get this chapter out quickly so I can begin the work on the next chapter where some wild and crazy stuff happens. Expect next one to take a little bit of extra time: I just started on it this afternoon and I already know it's going to be long. Eight chapters of setting up will lead to some wild freaking stuff, I'll say. Also, Friday will probably be a no writing day (it's Independence Day in my country so I'll have to go be patriotic for the day), so that will slow down my next update some._

_Well, Brendan got some screen time this chapter. And guess who makes their return? Blue and Leaf (plus Red)! I'll have to come back later and check to make sure I wasn't calling Leaf "Green". Ugh. I double-checked before I uploaded but sometimes things escape me._

_Introducing Cruz, a nonbinary OC of mine (meaning they don't identify as male or female). Cruz kind of exists in multiple universes; I've recycled them a lot for various things. We will learn more about this scientific administrator with an Emolga. By the way, Cruz uses "they/them/their" for pronouns, and it isn't grammatically correct, but English doesn't do gender neutral pronouns._

_Yeah, Lyra is a Togepi mama now. In the games, the Togepi line is extremely rare because of strife and conflict in the world. With the world ending the way it is, the Togepi line has dwindled even further in this fic. So Lyra is suddenly a very important figure because wow things that like purity like her...*hint hint*_

_As far as Blue, Leaf, and Red's teams go, I just assume that Red has the team he uses to beat the tar out of me every time I go up to battle him on Mount Silver in SoulSilver Version and Blue has his gym team. Leaf, being Miss Pokedex, just uses whatever Pokemon she feels like using to kick ass. This chapter showed off her Onix (which isn't my beloved Rocky ;A;). And believe me, she has plenty of others._

_My version of Mewtwo isn't too aggressive. Silver is aggressive enough; Mewtwo plays up his apathy to balance it out._

_Leave a review, pretty please? I promise things will begin to pick up next chapter; there will be some...action!_

_If I don't update before the week is out (which is a possibility), do enjoy the rest of your week. Enjoy your summer break if you're on break, and if you're not, just enjoy whatever it is that you're doing!_


	9. Trouble

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But if I did, Absol would get a pre-evolution that is super cute and fluffy and looks like it needs a hug because it can't yet deal with its ability-to-forsee-disasters ability.**

* * *

Not that Steven's day following May and Serena around the shoreline in Mossdeep City had been particularly fun, but the minute they came upon an ex-Champion and an ex-criminal from the Unova region, it became much less fun.

Though a few weeks had passed since Serena had turned up in the Hoenn, they hadn't done anything serious in regards to Aether for the most part. It had been mostly a time for filling Serena in on recent history. The Kalos, far from other regions, often missed the gist of what was truly going on in the rest of the world. May and Steven had also worked to familiarize her with the Hoenn region, for it was a far cry from the region she had travelled from.

Today, May had decided to teach Serena and her Greninja how to use the move Dive. Though the Hidden Machine was in common use in the Hoenn, it was actually illegal to use outside of battle in the Kalos region for reasons that made little sense to either May or Steven. The former Hoennese Champion provided her with the HM and a few basic guidelines, but it was May who ended up teaching her the finer points.

As his two companions stood in water-proof stick suits in the shallows, Steven couldn't help but compared their body types. Though they were both healthy and trim, that was about all they had in common. May had defined curves, a narrow waist, and powerful thighs (Sidney had referred to them as "thick thighs" once a good three or four years ago, earning him a one-way ticket to a brutal beating that he still avoided talking about). Serena was rangier and more angular; her shoulders were broad and almost mannish. It wasn't to say that she didn't look as feminine as May did—it simply looked like she could punch a wall and laugh it off, while May looked like she could kick a wall and walk away unfazed.

"Enjoying the view?" May asked dryly, peering over her shoulder at him.

Steven, who swallowed shame at his open viewing of his two companions, shrugged. "Lovely beach," he remarked weakly.

She tossed a pebble at him, but she smiled. "Then pay better attention to it, you freaking nerd."

Before Steven could truly enjoy the beach and not make comparisons between his old friend and a former Kalosian Champion, they were quickly interrupted by the sight of two incredibly rare Pokémon in the Hoenn region soaring in to make a landing on the beach. "Incoming!" Steven yelled at the women. May looked up, noticed that a large red, blue, and brown bird Pokémon was about to clip her head on the landing, and simply fell backwards into the shallows to avoid it. Serena, on the other hand, was not so lucky or as quick and had her hat knocked off by the sweeping tail of the other flying Pokémon, a yellow-feathered, reptilian creature.

When both Pokémon landed, Steven got a good look at who was on the back of the Pokémon. He immediately recognized the girl, although it took him a moment to recognize her companion. "Wait a minute—why are you people all coming to the Hoenn?!" he barked. "What's with the influx of foreigners? I thought the cool thing to do was avoid this place like the plague!"

"Steven, don't be so callous," said none other than White, yet another former Champion. She hopped off the back of the large bird Pokémon and remarked, "Is that how you talk to everyone that shows up in your region?"

Her cohort joined her—N Harmonia, former "king" of Team Plasma. He eyed Steven with some confusion. "White, do you know this man?"

"Back in the day, after you finally came home and we still weren't speaking because we were super pissy with each other, I wiped the floor with his Pokémon a few times in Driftveil City. I think he beat me like twice at best," White remarked, smiling brightly.

May and Serena joined the conversation, hobbling over. May's eyes were sparkling as she demanded, "You're Hilda White?"

"What's a Hilda?" she responded blithely, but she smiled. "Just call me White."

Glancing back and forth wildly among Steven, Serena, and White, she clapped her hands to her face in an uncharacteristically girlish expression. "Somebody please hold me. This is nuts."

Steven tugged at the neck of his stick suit before loudly declaring, "Okay! This is incredible! I get it! But…of all beaches of _anywhere _in the world…you land here. Obviously you need something. But the thing is that I'm already dealing with a foreigner. I have no more space in my house."

"Rude," Serena mumbled.

"You're a nice foreigner, but seriously—my house is going to be way too full now," Steven reassured the crestfallen Kalosian girl.

White raised her eyebrows. "You read my mind, bud. We're in the trouble hub and N was chatting to some nice Wingull—"

"They were definitely _not nice, _White. They were swearing profusely," N interjected.

"—and they mentioned that Steven Stone, along with the help of a Pokedex holder and another former champion, were in Mossdeep City. We've been drifting around for a while, trying to, y'know, stop this whole end of days thing."

"End of days?" Steven asked dubiously.

N groaned. "Right. That's not common knowledge, is it? We should probably explain that. After that I will need comfort food."

"And I suppose I'll have to buy it," Steven grumbled darkly.

Shrugging, he replied helpfully, "I am quite broke! It'd be appreciated, wouldn't it, Archeops?"

"Chee!" The Pokémon squawked.

Steven ground his knuckles into his forehead while May and Serena giggled. His patience was slowly running out. Plastering a smile onto his face, he replied, "We'd like to hear about this 'end of days' thing you speak of."

* * *

A day and a half passed without Lyra returning to the attic, and Silver wondered momentarily if it was just because that Togepi—Speckle, she called her—sneezed around the heavy coating of dust up there.

Not that he was going to ask her that, because he truly didn't give a damn one way or another if she had now taken it upon herself to sit in the living room with him and Mewtwo during their plotting or occasionally remark upon Silver's cooking abilities and social skills during the day. She was frustratingly cute, he had to admit. Oftentimes Lyra made up words, only to be corrected by that Shiny Quilava of hers and giggled at by her Mareep. The Togepi was convinced that Lyra was her mother. She was ridiculously patient and silly with her Pokémon, and Silver didn't even have a clue as to how she did it.

It was nearing Silver's usual dinner time, and though Lyra had been an uncustomary sort of quiet around him for the majority of the day, it still bothered him immensely when she sidled up to the noodles he was boiling in a beat-up pot and poked at them with a spoon. Somehow, all three of her Pokémon were somewhere on her person; he wondered how her back hadn't snapped from the weight of Quilava hanging over one shoulder and Mareep snuggling the side of her head on the other. "So what are you making?" she asked.

"What does it look like?" Silver replied grumpily, stirring it.

She drew closer, poking at them again. He stopped what he was doing and eyed her with what he hoped was an even expression, though he felt angered by her nosiness. A Togepi had hatched for her; he was dealing with a good and pure person who clearly did not need to be tainted by his shitty attitude. "Is there something that you need from me right at this very second, woman?" he asked.

"Be nice to Mama!" Speckle, the Togepi, shrilled from the crook of Lyra's right arm.

_Apparently my nicest is not nice enough, _Silver decided. "But seriously though, what do you need? It's not like you've bothered me much these past two weeks or anything unless it's about weaponized Legendaries."

Lyra set the spoon down on the counter. "Could I have some of whatever you're making?"

_No, _Silver replied mentally. But externally, in as polite of a town he could manage, he said, "If you put your Pokémon down and grab the tomato sauce out of the refrigerator, sure."

She smiled. "I can do that." Lyra knelt down and set her Pokémon on the floor. Speckle squealed indignantly, but Lumi meandered to the baby Pokémon and nuzzled her face, quickly quieting her. Silver was started when a can of tomato sauce appeared in front of his face. "Is this the stuff?"

"No, it isn't. Way to grab the hot fudge," he said sarcastically while prying the lid off. The comment made her chuckle, which surprised Silver. He hadn't managed to make her laugh at all in the past two weeks.

The reek of spices and mustiness hit his nose as the lid finally came off of the tomato sauce—sometime soon he would have to sneak out and go grocery shopping. His food supplies were growing old.

She asked, "Do you need anything else?"

"Didn't you see the fridge? There's not much else to eat," Silver said, popping the opened jar into the nearby microwave to warm it.

Lyra leaned against the counter, watching her Pokémon with a gentle smile. It startled Silver as to how petite she was. He knew that Johtonese girls weren't renowned for their height, yet she hardly looked Johtonese, save for the dark lashes and almond-shaped eyes. Hell, her hair was even reddish in the sun. It was wavy, too, on humid days. What sort of girl was she? What sort of past had brought about a vaguely Johtonese-looking girl who was apparently kind and pure enough to hatch a Togepi?

"What's on your mind?" she asked him when she noticed his stare.

Silver bit the inside of his cheek and looked away. "It's nothing."

"It's something," she insisted, drawing closer to him. "What's on your mind, Mr. Briccone?"

He didn't like the proximity with which she stood. Mewtwo wasn't entirely wrong in accusing him of having a crush on the girl; Silver would admit that. Simply, it felt wrong for him to lust after (or pine after?) a girl like her: one younger, gentler, kinder, and happier than him. Two weeks of her either avoiding him or confronting him had made it easier to avoid it.

In order to avoid whatever might happen if she got too close, he simply asked, "Where are you from?"

"Uh…Silver? You found me in my house in Newbark Town. Where do you think I'm from?" she asked, shaking her head and laughing quietly.

He scratched at his arm, edging back from her. "Well, duh. I'm not an idiot. I mean that you've basically heard the gist of my story. I think it's pretty dubious of you to not tell me something about yourself."

"Hello, my name is Lyra, and I like long walks on the beach," she said, shooting him her best shit-eating grin.

Silver clapped a hand to his forehead and sighed loudly. He mumbled, "What sort of horrible people raised you?"

"My mother, Chiyo Soul," she replied with a smile.

"No father?"

Lyra's smile faded a little. "Once, yeah. He and my mom never married, but he lived with us. He was a rail worker for the Magnet Train, back before it collapsed. It was dangerous work, so he made a lot of money. We were living really well for a long time, especially since my mom was making money by fostering a child here and there and working with Professor Elm. Then when I was eight he broke up with my mom, left her money to take care of me, and never spoke to us again. My mom had my last name changed to hers. Then one day we heard he died in one of the first spatial rends. He left all of his money to me, actually, but I can't have it until I'm eighteen, so what good does that do?" she added, plastering a sad smile to her face. "So I have a ton of foster siblings that my mom gets paid to take care of, and all of us older kids have to work, basically."

Silver wasn't sure how to respond to that. Like him, her childhood had been fairly, well, uncomfortable, for lack of a better word. He never would have guessed. "I guess karma got your dad good. Serves a man like that right," he decided on saying. He figured it took one to know one; it wasn't as though he was any better of a man than the father who abandoned his young daughter with kind eyes and a lover who was clearly the same.

She laughed, but the sound was like wisps of smoke: dead and off, the remnant of a stronger, clearer emotion. "I suppose it did."

Silver reached around Lyra to grab the drainer sitting on the counter. The noodles looked just about ready to be slathered in cheap, older-than-the-hills tomato sauce. "Get the sauce out of the microwave."

Just as they started to get the food together, Mewtwo popped his head into the room. "Silver, I'm afraid we have a problem."

Silver snarled loudly. "Fucking shit! Of course there's a problem! We're about to eat dinner!"

"It's a big problem," Mewtwo replied. "You need to forget your food and potentially teleport with me."

Lyra and Silver exchanged looks. "Well…what's going on?" Lyra asked slowly.

Mewtwo folded his arms across his chest. "I observed the presence of Champion Red, the Gym Leader Blue, and an unknown woman with a rather powerful Onix at her side. They appear to be observing the house."

Silver raised his eyebrows. "It took Oak that long to get people checking out this place? I'm surprised, honestly. Let's just avoid the windows for now; maybe they'll go away."

"Red had his Charizard out. I honestly recommend evasive action—"

A loud, echoing crash resounded through the house. "What was that?" Lyra hissed.

"Not a damned clue, Lyra. Return your Pokémon; we're going to teleport the fuck out of here."

Lyra cocked her head. "What would be so bad about being discovered here?"

"I'm doing illegal things. They're the goody two-shoes sort that goes way beyond yours," Silver said tersely. Another cacophonous crash resounded, and his heart began to pound rapidly in his chest. He noticed Lyra standing there, looking torn. The realization was apparent in her eyes; if she stayed there while Mewtwo and Silver teleported, they could help her get home. He rubbed at the back of his neck. "Look, if you want to leave with them, I'm not going to stop you. I really fucked up. I took you away from your life, your family, and your friends, and if you want to go back, you should go back. If you don't go, you're working with us. Things aren't going to be all clear-cut good and bad, but the end result is going to be good. Pokémon will be free because of you."

Lyra stood, an indecisive look passing over her face. "We don't have much time to sit around and think this over," Mewtwo suggested tersely.

So rapidly that Silver thought he imagined in, the indecisiveness fled her face and she reached for her Pokeballs, quickly returning Copper, Lumi, and Speckle to her Pokeballs. "Don't make me regret it," she said.

Silver didn't allow himself any celebration; another loud crash resounded. This time, drywall from the ceiling began to crumble. He hooked his arm through Lyra's and ordered, "Get us out of here…again."

"Wait, am I gonna pass out again?" Lyra asked as Mewtwo's powers began to kick in.

"Definitely," Silver admitted quickly.

"What!? Are you—" her protests were quickly cut off by a rush of black and the silence of teleportation.

* * *

Brendan had undergone deep psychoanalysis by the scientists and psychologists of Aether, as had Aurora, John, and even Cruz. The questions surprised him; they truly covered everything and anything, ranging to how he felt about school as a young child to what the color red made him think of. It was hours upon hours of these questions. Brendan wondered what else they could possibly want to know at this point. After all, they practically knew anything there was to know about him, save for his identity as Brendan Fuertes.

Now, sitting in yet another waiting room with the other three, he sighed loudly. "What are we waiting for now?" he questioned Cruz.

The administrator smiled. "They're going to deliver us our antithesis."

John West, the man Brendan didn't really know, glowered at him. He was a burly man who somewhat resembled a younger version of Drake, former member of the Hoenn Elite Four. Swarthy, broad-shouldered, and bearded in a way that wasn't disgusting, he looked like the reluctant hero in an action movie; it almost made Brendan wonder if he, too, had an ulterior motive that had drawn him into Aether. "What do you mean by that?" he asked Cruz in confrontational tones.

"I mean that the Legendary Pokémon you will be paired with is going to be your opposite in every major way. Aurora is outgoing, brassy, and enjoys large Pokémon. I'll bet anything that she will be paired with a smaller, quieter Legendary," Cruz replied.

Aurora groaned. "Damn it. I was hoping I'd get paired with something cool, like Regirock."

"Probably not," Cruz admitted with a sigh. "Pairings like these need to be balanced. Together, you must create a neutral, not a double positive or double negative. You will be like Plusle and Minun, coming together to create no charge at all."

"But their Plus and Minus abilities bolster each other," Brendan commented.

"Emotionally, yes. They're powerful together due to emotional support. But if you test the charges in them at rest when they're together, chances are that there aren't any charges. They've become neutral and balanced," they explained.

Drumming her fingers on her legs, Aurora glanced around. It had been over two weeks since she had worn the colorful skirts and a blouse, but yet he still pictured her in those, and not the gray and blue stick suit of an Aether trainee. "So…basically, we're getting stuck with Pokémon we probably won't even like is what you're saying," she remarked.

"At first, you two will likely hate each other. In fact, the method of taming them is less than stellar on our part. There's probably going to be some animosity between you and your partner for a while," Cruz admitted.

"What the hell are we doing to them?" John asked sharply.

Cruz smiled awkwardly. "Ah, yes. This is the fun part. You will get the choice of two weapons, and you will physically fight your Legendary to subdue them."

Before anyone could remark, four different scientists walked in. They were all male, but that was where any similarities ended. The oldest one, a kind, grandfatherly-looking man, went to Aurora. A brusque man who looked quite a bit like John approached his look-alike. The remaining two scientists seemed to be identical—nut-brown skin, long noses, and close-cropped black hair. The one on the left made his way to Brendan while the one on the right met with Cruz.

The scientist that Brendan was dealing with had a businesslike aura to him. With a holographic clipboard, he sat rigidly in his seat. "Mr. Parr, we've made three different matches for you—you'd be surprised how many Pokémon are completely your opposites."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Brendan asked.

He peered over his glasses at "Mr. Parr". Evenly, he replied, "It isn't a compliment. It's a statement of facts." Now that his lack of a sense of humor had been established, the scientist flipped his holographic clipboard in Brendan's direction. The image of the three Regis appeared on screen, with Registeel being highlighted in yellow. "The best three matches for you proved to be difficult. The first of which is Registeel, who proved to be only a 52% antithesis match, and mostly because Registeel lacks emotion and you are a deeply emotional person."

He flipped through to the next image to display a brown, quadripedal Pokémon with huge, horns that curved inward toward its face. "This is Terrakion," the scientist said. "This Legendary is from Unova, and proves to be a 71% match. It is a rigid Pokémon who is not a natural leader."

The scientist flicked this image aside and paused. "This match concerns me. This Legendary was difficult to capture and has proven difficult to hold captive, but you have a 96% match with it." He revealed the image of a jet-black Pokémon with a white tuft on its head. "It's called Darkrai. We encountered it in the Sinnoh region, and three agents died from sheer fright trying to bring it in. I don't recommend you trying to pair yourself with this Pokémon. It feeds on nightmare and fear."

Brendan grinned. A Pokémon that could kill through fright…wasn't that just fitting? He replied, "I'll be damned if I don't try. I'm not scared."

"Taking this Pokémon on by yourself with weapons won't end well. I would recommend trying Terrakion first," the scientist replied.

Brendan shook his head. "I don't get why we have to fight them without our Pokémon, but I'm going to do this. You can't tell me not to."

Soon, the scientists left the room, and Aurora made a loud shrieking noise. "My top match is with this stupid little white and green thing called Shaymin! Ugh!"

"Keldeo," John muttered. "It looks like a rainy Ponyta."

"Darkrai—it killed three Aether agents," Brendan responded with a smirk.

Cruz eyed him fishily. "You sound rather pleased about that."

"I didn't exactly join to further your motives," he said sharply. "I'm here to protect my friends."

Cruz seemed to ignore this. The administrator informed the agents, "I've been paired with Latios. He is my perfect antithesis: he belongs to the male binary, is deeply emotional, and fears being alone."

"So…does that mean you're a chick?" John asked.

With a loud sigh, Cruz straightened their top. "My sex is female, to be honest, but my gender is neither. Get the facts straight."

This seemed to confuse John. Aurora, however, seemed to understand. She paced over to the older man and began whispering in his ear. Brendan ignored this factoid, well aware of what Cruz meant by that, and asked, "Why do we not get to use our Pokémon to battle the Legendaries?"

"Our earliest tests with these Pokémon have showed that the Legendaries will only respond to this if you catch them with Pokeballs. But we cannot use Pokeballs; the point is to make them an equal, not a subordinate. You make them understand human power," Cruz replied, bright blue eyes flashing. "And then they will respect you. It will become a balanced partnership."

"So can I go first?" Brendan asked.

Cruz laughed. "Not a chance in the world, Mr. Parr. I think Aurora needs to burn some anger."

"Damned right I do!" she screeched. At that point, she was still whispering some sort of explanation in John's ear, and he clapped a hand over it and glared at the teenage girl. "Ah! Sorry, John!" she squealed, clapping her hands over her mouth, apparently mollified.

"Did you two catch what I was saying?" Cruz asked with a sigh.

They both nodded, although John looked about ready to commit murder. Cruz nodded. "Well, then, Ms. Nunez, I'll inform the handlers that you're ready." The administrator tugged a device of some sort from the front pocket of their shirt and began to type a message.

She nodded and slammed her fist into her open palm and whooped loudly. "I'm always ready!"

Brendan smiled at her. "Best of luck, Aurora."

Shooting him a thumbs-up, she shot impossibly fast jabs and a high kick into the air. Moments later, the door on the other side of the nondescript waiting room opened. Aurora was led out by a pair of female agents, and then the door closed again.

Brendan prayed Aurora would easily win over the favor of Shaymin, and that he would soon be able to do the same with Darkrai.

* * *

_A/N: Howdy, howdy! Welcome to the ninth chapter of this fic! Once again, I could've updated sooner, but I may or may not have been fishing in a slightly illegal fashion for like four hours last night and slept too late today..._

_So anyway I've realized that we're nine chapters into this and I've never even mentioned that here are like a ton of songs that I've somewhat drawn inspiration from. Since I can't send links, I'll just list a few major ones here: Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This by the Eurythmics, Sign of The Times by Three Days' Grace (the song which I somewhat may or may not have taken the title from because this was a big part of my inspiration for this story), I See Fire by Ed Sheeran, I Know I'm A Wolf by Young Heretics (which is a pretty good Soulsilvershipping or any grumpy, kind of dangerous person loves the cute, gentle person song tbh), Sunburn by Muse, and Criminal by Fiona Apple. Check 'em out if you want to; most of them aren't going to be everyone's cup of tea, though._

_Steven is kind of sick of everyone showing up in Mossdeep City. "I moved here to avoid the people, not to have the people find me," ~Steven Stone at some point probably. So now he's dealing with a rather determined White and a N who needs heavy, carby food to deal. My heacanon is that N was probably so controlled when he was with Team Plasma that when he gets away, he only spends money on things to help Pokemon and on junk food that he can't find out in the wilderness. While he eats it, he laughs to himself about how Ghetsis never let him have it and here he is, gorging on fries._

_I still refuse to write Mewtwo as being hateful until I have good reason to. *shimmies away shamelessly*_

_Yup, Silver is like "Well shit she has a Togepi. Togepi like good-hearted people. I'm not corrupting that." He tries to be nice. Also, duh: he has a crush. Lyra is cute and nice and all that; plus she is tough on him for appropriate things, not at all the time. Nor is she totally soft on him. She is intriguing. He must know more._

_Brendan's about to fight a Darkrai without Pokemon. Please start your prayer circles for the overzealous little shit._

_Anyway, leave your reviews! No one reviewed last chapter (loud screeching noises) and I feel like a few of my reviewers on here have kind of...disappeared, so to speak. Please come back. I can change!_

_Until next update, please behave and keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times._


	10. Heroism

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But if I did, character customization, aside from skin tone, hair color and eye color, probably would not be a thing after Gen 6.**

* * *

With a stun gun in one hand and an old-school metal baseball bat in the other, Aurora stood in the center of a white-walled room with a dirt floor and a glass ceiling that exposed a hazy late morning sky. It was a strange combination; the walls and ceiling seemed new and expensive. The floor certainly wasn't. Tapping her foot impatiently, she yelled, "When are you sending in this Legendary?"

"Give us a minute! Arceus, kid!" crackled an older woman's voice over the speaker. "You've only been in there for seven minutes!"

"And that's _eight _minutes too long!" she replied.

"That's not physically possible!" The woman retorted sharply.

Aurora snorted. "Hey, Palkia has spatial rends. How do we know that Dialga isn't screwing with time?"

The woman seemed to be unable to reply to this, and so Aurora stood waiting. In her seventeen years of living, she had never felt this antsy. That little green and white Pokémon—Shaymin—was a Legendary and her perfect antithesis. Supposedly, she was the only one with a 100% match with her Pokémon…well, if match was the word that could be used.

The floor rumbled; a hatch opened nearby, spilling dirt into a dark hole. A metallic tube rose from the floor, and it took Aurora a moment to realize that this contraption was an elevator of some sort. It shuddered to a halt. "Recruit Nunez, we will release the Shaymin. We will give you fifteen minutes to subdue it; if you fail to do so, we will subdue the Pokémon and you will have to wait three hours to make another attempt," said a new voice, although this one wasn't so new. It sounded a lot like that of Corona's, the administrator who had harped at the recruits on their first day.

"But…what if I'm about to die?" she called. "What will you do?"

"If you die before fifteen minutes are up, you weren't worthy of the program in the first place," she snipped. "So. Best of luck to you."

Aurora's attentions were now fixed on the elevator. A nearly-invisible hatch made itself visible in the side, and it dropped open. Out charged the Shaymin, so quickly that Aurora wasn't entirely certain that it happened, and she wasn't sure what to do. "Holy shit," she whispered to herself.

The Shaymin came to an abrupt halt about seven feet from Aurora. It was a small, dog-like Pokémon with a naturally determined expression, but this time it seemed furious beyond furious. A voice cut into Aurora's mind: young, feminine, and icy: _If you leave now, I promise to not touch a hair on your head, but if you don't, I will eviscerate you gladly._

Aurora raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Damn. We might just get along yet, you and I."

_Are you masochistic or something? _Shaymin asked, cocking her head to the side. _I just said I'm going to kill you._

"I'd really like to see you try. Now, they told me I'm supposed to beat you in a battle or something? So let's hop to it and cut the chitter-chatter," Aurora replied with a Sharpedo grin.

Shaymin wasted no time getting to work. With a loud bellow externally, the small Pokémon conjured terrifying roots from the dirt floor. The one closest to Aurora smashed all of six inches away from her. "Arceus, you're pissy," Aurora grumbled, leaping backwards. She prepared the stun gun. It was a futuristic model with high voltage and the benefit of not having old-school cables that hooked to the target like a Taser did; conversely, it could only manage about three shots before becoming useless for a good twenty minutes. Aurora needed to be careful and conservative with her shots.

She let the Shaymin waste energy by chasing her around, attempting to smash and slice her with roots and a strange attack that fired explosive seeds. _Seed Flare, _Aurora reminded herself. When the roots and seeds got too close, she would ward them off with the baseball bat. Until the age of fifteen, she played baseball in her hometown of Dewford Town on Tino's pickup team. Her slugging power was tremendous. Her swings would knock roots clear out of the ground, scattering them uselessly dead on the floor.

This was both a blessing and a curse, for Aurora and Shaymin were tripping over roots—of course, the blessing being when Shaymin tripped, and a curse when Aurora did. It allowed Shaymin to leap at her, jaws snapping alike a Feraligatr's. Rolling to her feet, Aurora would evade such attacks.

There were no plans to die here.

Approximately seven minutes had passed, and neither combatant had leverage over each other. _You run quite a lot, _Shaymin admitted huffily, quite breathless as Aurora slammed away yet another root.

"Like I said, you aren't killing me."

_I most certainly will if you keep acting so egoistic, _Shaymin snapped. As she spoke, a ball of lime green energy began to gather in a ball near her mouth. _You and I will not become partnered. Ever._

"As much as I'd love that, for me it's either die or be partnered with you, I think," Aurora replied. She held her stun gun forward. "So let's be friends, why don't we?"

Shaymin shook her head. _Never. _The energy expanded and flew forth.

Aurora fired the stun gun as Shaymin released the green energy ball—which was, in fact, the move known as Energy Ball. Aurora was slammed backwards a good six feet, but she was also rewarded with an indignant cry of shock from the Grass- and Flying-type Legendary. Neither combatant moved. Not that it mattered, because severe nausea rolled through Aurora. Retching, she rolled onto her hands and knees. "You b-bitch," she muttered, eyeing Shaymin twitching partway across the room. She looked to be in terrible shape, and Aurora suddenly felt awful. This Pokémon didn't really want to be with Aether, and neither did Aurora, but here they were fighting over it.

"This hurts like a…mother…" she trailed off, retching again. There was nothing in her stomach—she hadn't even started breakfast before they brought her in here to undergo questioning and this battle. It wasn't even noon.

"Recruit Nunez, you have five minutes to subdue Shaymin."

She forced herself to stop gagging long enough to shout back, "I stunned her! Isn't that enough?"

"The Pokémon has to agree."

_I will never agree! _Shaymin barked.

Aurora snarled. What a load of bullshit. This was complete and utter bullshit. At first this had seemed an interesting challenge and a compliment; they thought she was good enough to command a Pokémon with immense power like that. Yet, now, she had shocked Shaymin into oblivion and still it wasn't enough. What more did these stupid fuckers want? "Why are you doing this to her?" she roared. "She doesn't want this! Why are you capturing Legendaries!?"

Over the intercom, a voice crackled, "We're protecting them from misuse."

Staggering to her feet, Aurora held her stomach with one hand and flipped off the intercom with another. "Well, if anything I've ever seen is _misuse, _it's this!" She tripped over a root and collapsed, her hands just inches from Shaymin's body.

"Two and a half minutes, Recruit Nunez," the speakers blared.

Shaymin's eyes roved to Aurora. _So you are not here willingly, either._

The girl was unable to respond immediately; another attack of retching racked her body. After a moment, she replied, "Hell no. I'm trying to send money home to my family." She pulled herself up toward Shaymin. "Might as well kill me; they're not going to let these fights stop until we agree to work together."

_Will they stop holding me in a cage if I agree to work with you? _Shaymin questioned.

Aurora shrugged. "Maybe. I think we're all getting moved out of the barracks if we do this here, so you will probably leave your cage."

"One minute and fifteen seconds, Recruit Nunez."

She raised her eyebrows at Shaymin. "You better make up your mind."

Shaymin sighed loudly. _I would rather not kill you. I am meant to be a protector, not an aggressor. _

"Well, I don't really want to shoot you with a stun gun again," Aurora replied. "I thought I killed you there for a second."

_It will take more than that. _

"So…are we gonna do this again?" she questioned the Legendary.

Shaymin shook her head. Stretching a paw out, she tapped it against Aurora's outstretched hand. _I will submit if it means that they stop abusing me._

The moment that Shaymin said she submitted to Aurora, a strange, cold trickle entered her mind. Images rolled and blended through her mind, becoming her own:

…_a beautiful field of pink flowers…they smelled pure and beautiful, like childhood love and a mother's embrace…a place of peace and sanctuary…._

_..the face of a Pokémon more powerful than Aurora could comprehend…she begged in a voice that was not her own…she needed him to stay…everyone did…and he wouldn't… just…stay…._

…_this deep, tearing sadness…bled into rage…toward people…toward that overpowered bastard…this righteous anger that coiled itself around her heart in a constrictive vice…_

…_fire…her fields…burning…her Gracidea flowers…how DARE they…how…dare…they… _

…_tangling, snagging nets…all over her…she didn't know…she had no idea what lay in wait for her…but there was a burning hatred that did not belong in this organic body…her belly was a furnace…and her mouth…spewed the enraged flames concocted there…_

Aurora suddenly came to, tearing her hand away from Shaymin's paw. None of that was her own, but oh, did she feel it all like it was hers. The break in physical connection had not at all stymied these emotions. In fact, the feelings were exacerbated and clear—maybe even current.

"Are we sharing our brains or something?" Aurora asked Shaymin, her eyes wide.

With a nod, Shaymin struggled onto her feet, panting heavily. _You…are justified, _she remarked. _You came in here cocky and so self-assured; I surely thought that you were here because you were a sociopath. But no, your parents are dead because of Aether angering Palkia. You're making money to support your siblings. You only joined because your brother did. You are not a sociopath._

"Ew. Totally not a sociopath. I'm just trying to stay chipper and, uh, bombastic, I guess," Aurora replied.

"Recruit Nunez, you have reached success. A door will open on the left side of the room; take Shaymin and exit," said another sterile voice.

Aurora got to her feet. Her stomach hurt badly; she wasn't sure if she would be able to eat at all for the rest of the day. "Will do," she replied. Without remark, the paired human and Legendary left toward the doorway, which was jet black. Thoughts flitted through the connection like wildfire overtaking a rickety wooden bridge, and suddenly, hatred for one another was channeled into hatred for what had become a common enemy: Aether.

Both components of the pair wondered if Aether knew just how badly they fucked up. Aurora's distaste for the group, combined with Shaymin's general sense of hatred for the world around, proved to be a beautifully volatile and reactive combination.

The pair entered the dark doorway, and the room was left still.

* * *

Ever since Lyra had disappeared—or, rather, been kidnapped by that stupid-ass redhead—things hadn't been quite right in the Soul household. Mrs. Soul spent a great deal of time calling police stations around the Kanto and Johto and the rest of her time doing her best to not cry in front of Tamiko, Ren, and Ellie, her foster daughters. Ethan barely spoke and simply went to help with repairs on the lab every day. He worked until the sun went down, came home to make dinner, and then disappeared until the wee hours of morning. No one knew where he went during those hours.

To Kris, it seemed like a dark, shadowy stasis that her adoptive family had been thrown into.

As Kris tried to sleep in the deep heat of the summer, she came to a conclusion. Something had to be done. Lyra was like an essential cornerstone in this household; when Ethan was obsessive and angry, she was almost always cheerful and smiling. The world was ending, and what did she do? Laugh and make stupid jokes to calm everyone else down. Without her, everything was wrong.

That redheaded boy, Silver, was clearly Kantonese, judging by his looks and accent. He couldn't have stayed in Johto for six months undetected; how many young men stood over six feet tall with long red hair in the Johto?

She decided that he had likely returned to Kanto with Lyra in tow.

What use did Kris currently have around the house and at the lab, anyway? Ellie, Tamiko, and Ren took better care of the house than she ever could, and there was no lab. She had helped stabilize the roof and clean up the debris, but now there was nothing more that she could do.

It was about time that Lyra came home, Kris decided. Things were more wrong without her than two spatial rends in one day had made it.

She peeled out of the bottom bunk and began to gather her belongings. That would be her purpose: bringing Lyra home.

There would be a note in the morning, telling everyone where she had gone off to. It would tell them not to worry, and she would soon bring Lyra home faster than any police officer would be able to.

Kris glanced at Ethan's slumbering form as she put her things together. It was late enough that he had returned to sleep about an hour ago; for a lack of a better phrase, he was out like a lamp. "Lighten up, you shit," she whispered, quietly as not to wake him.

It was then that Kris disappeared into the night, heading toward the inlet that separated the Kanto and the Johto.

* * *

Brendan was walking through a graveyard. Gray, misty, and frigid, it was an uninviting place that demanded that any visitors bring company. However, Brendan was alone. There were no Pokeballs at his belt, and none of his friends or acquaintances seemed to be with him.

Wandering around, trying to figure out the best way out of this cemetery, he tripped over a small, almost unnoticeable tombstone and tumbled to the ground. He hissed in pain; how had he not noticed it? When he clambered to his feet, he just about gasped in horror. The gravestone belonged to Sidney of the Elite Four.

"N-no, not you, too!" Brendan hissed. He whirled around, and a larger tombstone sat there. Steven Stone. Whirled again. May Birch. Whirled again. The graveyard was filled with his dead friends.

Dizzy and ill, Brendan panted his hands on his knees and released a cry of anguish. It had to be his fault. He had failed, hadn't he?

Why hadn't he just captured Kyogre and Groudon when he had the chance? Why hadn't he captured Rayquaza? Why? It would have prevented all of this, wouldn't it?

A cold, clammy hand pressed to his cheek. "It's not like you would've succeeded at any of those, anyway," hissed a voice he was familiar with. He looked up and a sick, cold fear rolled over him; May stood there, partially decomposed and spectral. She gave him a skull-like grin and added, "I will never forgive you."

And in that moment, Brendan opened his eyes to a white ceiling. He was fairly certain he was laying unceremoniously upon a tile floor, but it felt so surreal.

"Mr. Parr, you've woken up from that nightmare," said none other than Cruz.

_A nightmare. _His memory flooded back to him—he had been battling Darkrai. Like Aurora, he had chosen a stun gun, but then he'd also chosen brass knuckles. As a child he'd spent a great deal of time in the martial arts; he thought they'd be most useful. Twelve minutes into fighting, Darkrai had finally hit him with a move like Hypnosis, and then that nightmare had occurred.

Cruz laughed sadly. "You were warned. I will bet you had vivid nightmares."

"That was awful," Brendan admitted with a deep sigh. "Everyone I knew was dead."

Cruz helped him to his feet; their palms were deeply scarred. Brendan wondered why. "You were calling out for someone named May."

Brendan froze. Had he said anything else in his nightmare? What if he had cried out for Steven, too? Or for his parents? "Did I call out for anyone else?" he asked.

"Just someone named May. Is she your lover?" Cruz asked, combing their fingers through their hair.

"I definitely had this big-ass crush on her when I was younger, but now we're just friends. Plus…she's kind of scary," he admitted.

Cruz smiled. "You care deeply for her, though."

"Always," Brendan replied. Glancing around, he noticed that the room—the waiting room he had started out in earlier—was empty. "Where's John? And haven't you taken on Latios yet? Is Aurora all right?"

"John has withdrawn from the process for the time being; he broke his arm in a compound fracture in his first attempt to battle Keldeo. Aurora and Shaymin are fine and get along quite swimmingly, much to my surprise." With a sigh, Cruz added, "I am not prepared to fight Latios at this moment."

Brendan raised his eyebrows. "Why not?"

"I'm recovering from a back injury from when we took our most recent Legendary Pokémon in," Cruz replied. "I was kicked squarely in the lumbar portion of my spine. I certainly didn't sign up to do this to battle dangerous Legendaries and enslave them, I'll just say that."

The two stood in silence for a while. Though Brendan knew that Cruz was a prominent, high-ranking member of Aether, he couldn't help but feel some kinship with this administrator. Perhaps there was an ulterior motive buried there as well; was anyone in Aether for the sake of furthering the goals of the organization? "Cruz," he said simply, "I really don't mind you."

Chuckling, Cruz glanced at him. "Is this your way of telling me that I'm not a horrible person?"

"Yeah. I think so," Brendan said.

"Do you think you will take on Darkrai once more?" Cruz asked. "It's nearly six at night. You slept for a long time."

Brendan shuddered. He thought back upon Darkrai's ice blue eyes and deathly silent ways. At the moment, he couldn't see himself doing it. But he had to, right? Unless he was injured badly like John or Cruz, he wasn't going to be able to opt out of it. "I…I don't know," he admitted. "I want to rest."

"Then rest," Cruz said simply. "I'll see if they cannot bring some food up."

Brendan's stomach rumbled. "Yes, please."

As Cruz stood up to place some sort of call, Brendan asked, "Cruz, are you here for anyone?"

The administrator turned to look at Brendan and evenly said, "In the beginning, I thought Aether was beautiful. I believe I am in love with an idea." Brendan wanted to ask what was meant by that, but Cruz had already dialed a number and began to talk with someone.

He tipped his head back, trying to ease his wooziness and forget about what Cruz had just said. Soon, he would have to battle Darkrai once more. Hopefully the second time would be the charm, and the two would get along as well as Aurora and Shaymin were.

That's what he hoped, at least.

* * *

Once again, Lyra came to quite abruptly from the teleportation daze. This time, knowing exactly what had happened, she sighed loudly and called, "Silver, where the heck did we go?"

"Welcome to Saffron City," said none other than Mewtwo.

Lyra opened her eyes, squinting against bright, late afternoon sunlight pouring in through floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Mewtwo stood silhouetted against them, hands clasped behind his back. She closed her eyes again and rubbed at them. "Where's Silver?"

"In the shower," Mewtwo replied. "He may or may not have broken the coffee machine in the first twenty minutes we were here and got wet grounds all over himself."

"That's…well…interesting," Lyra decided on. She opened her eyes once more and looked around at the place they were staying. It was an upscale, modern apartment overlooking the downtown portion of the golden-hued city. The floor was covered in plush white carpet, and the walls seem to be painted a pearly shade of gray. All of the furniture was monochrome, save from the couch Lyra had woken up on, which was a divan with maroon upholstery that seemed wildly out of place. "Is this another one of Giovanni's old places? I feel like this is a bad idea if it is."

Mewtwo turned to gaze at her with fluid lavender eyes. "No. This place belongs to Silver."

"Who did he kill to get it?" she muttered.

"It's more like we were in the right place at the right time and observed a few things going on with the owner of this building that weren't quite right," Mewtwo admitted with a dark smirk. "Have you ever heard stories about the slimy mayor of this city?"

Lyra racked her brain and nodded. The man had come into power a few years ago promising to fix the debt crisis in the city and only managed to get himself involved in highly public extramarital affairs and rack up more debt. "Yeah, who hasn't?" she replied.

"We observed him doing even more…unsavory things…it was disgusting, and so we essentially blackmailed him into purchasing this penthouse for us with his own savings. It was either that or we release evidence of this unsavory thing publically," Mewtwo explained.

Lyra didn't want to guess at what was meant by "more unsavory things", as it clearly wasn't some sort of affair. She felt that Mewtwo would come out and say that. "I guess you guys really know how to work situations to your advantage," she admitted.

"You seem uncomfortable with the idea," Mewtwo commented.

Nodding, Lyra toyed with the hem of the sleeve on her stick suit. It was what she had to do now, right? She had to be dishonest and willing to pull arms like these boys did. Lyra didn't know if she even knew how to.

A door creaked open somewhere in the penthouse. Mewtwo said, "That would be Silver. I will leave you two to talk. I can't stand idle chatter." With that, he made his way out of the common area and into a side room, leaving Lyra to sit nonplussed on the divan. If he claimed their exchange was idle chatter, she had no idea how he would hold up in a conversation about the weather.

"Mewtwo, is Lyra up yet or is she still drooling on the divan?" Silver's voice called.

A pang of indignation bit into Lyra. She gazed over the back of the divan, discovering a dark hallway with a few closed doorways leading in both directions. Silver stood toward the end of one, obscured by a cloud of steam wafting from the bathroom. "Hey! Excuse you! I'm wide awake!" Lyra shouted at him.

He seemed startled by her shouting. He headed in her direction, and as he came into the light, Lyra had to bite back surprise. Forgoing the stick suit, he was standing there shirtless with a towel draped over his shoulders and loose-fitting cargo pants practically sliding off of his hips. "Holy shit, quit yelling. The downstairs neighbors might hear you," he reprimanded her.

She raised her eyebrows and also her gaze. The muscles of his torso seemed to want her attention. "Cool. We could have a housewarming party. Where is your shirt?" she demanded. "Or your stick suit, more importantly?"

"You don't really need to wear one a place this high up. The stick fabric protects the building and nothing can damage it up here," he replied. "So why wear one at home?"

Lyra couldn't find any reason to disagree, except for the fact that her stick suit was currently all she had to wear. Damn him and his comfortable amount of clothing. "I'd probably subscribe to that if I wasn't stuck with my stick suit."

"Let me guess: you need to go shopping or something," he sneered.

Nodding brightly, Lyra sauntered over to the floor-to-ceiling glass widow, gazing out at the world below. "Either that or I'll walk around in your ginormous shirts," she said slyly.

Silver scoffed. "That makes me sound fat or something. Fucking rude."

Turning around to face him, she raised her eyebrows. Lyra gently retorted, "Well, if it's 'fucking rude' for me to say you have ginormous shirts, then don't make fun of me for wanting to shop for some clothes that isn't one of my two stick suits. It's not like I'll leech off your money or anything; I have some of my own." _It isn't much money, but we could go somewhere cheap, _she thought to herself, waiting for a response.

He sighed. "Some money of your own. Like how much?"

"5,000 Pokedollars. That should be enough for like a couple of cheap shirts and shorts, right?" she muttered, doing mental math. Certainly it would have been enough in Goldenrod City in the Johto; their department store was known for their excellent selection of inexpensive and fairly nice clothing.

Sighing again, Silver headed toward the back room. "Arceus, Lyra. You probably couldn't buy one tacky-ass shirt for that much around here. I'll pay, but…don't think that it'll be this way every time!"

Lyra blushed at the sight of his back muscles. "Where are you going?" she asked, taking a few steps after him.

"Stick suit. We're going shopping, right?" he asked irritably.

Lyra snickered. "Yes. Yes we are."

Roughly twenty minutes later, Lyra was trailing slightly behind Silver as they walked the streets of Saffron City. She had been here once when she was very small with her parents. They had visited her grandparents—her father's parents who were now long dead—and hadn't strayed far into the city. The buildings here were vast. Aside from the Silph Co. headquarters, the tallest buildings were the one that Silver and Mewtwo lived in and one that seemed to be toward the fringe of the metropolitan area.

"Quit gawking. You look like a hick," Silver commented.

"I hear that so often I'm deaf to it, Silver," Lyra retorted. The milling crowds of people this late in the day made her nervous; did people go home and eat dinner with their family? Did they have homes they loved dearly?

Silver sighed upon noticing her concerned expression. "Why are you so nervous?"

"Because I'm a hick," she laughed breathlessly.

She noticed an older man passing her, his eyes roaming over her body lewdly. Lyra drew closer to Silver, who seemed to intuitively know what was going on. "Ignore perverted dickheads like him. They have no power over you if they can't keep an eye on you."

Another pair of eyes roamed over her, and she tried to ignore it. She faced forward, but then she felt the unwanted gaze roam lower, down to regions that were not appropriate to be looking at so openly. Lyra lost her nerve and pushed herself closer yet to Silver, their arms brushing. With a loud sigh, the redhead reluctantly linked his arm through Lyra's, muttering, "Holy shit. You're not afraid to throw yourself into a middle of a fight between your jackass friend and me, but the minute some older guy gets pervy…"

Silver's intimidating presence, along with his physical contact with Lyra, seemed to push the attention off of the girl. "Thanks," Lyra muttered with a dry mouth.

"Please tell me you're not always this big of a Pidgey shit with strangers," Silver muttered.

"Well, excuse _you, _didn't I just start talking to you out of the blue at the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center? What about that?" Lyra demanded.

Silver seemed to have no reply for that. They crossed a busy road, getting honked at by angry taxi drivers, and onto a side street lined with high-class shops. "Well, pick one and go at it," he said, "they probably love your body type up here."

Lyra snorted, gazing up at him. Was he about to turn into a pervert on her? "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"You're like five-foot-nothing and probably weigh like one hundred pounds. There will be a shit ton of selection around here for you," Silver remarked. "You're probably like a size zero."

"I'm a three, actually," she replied with her eyebrows raised. Then, she added, "Was that you flirting?"

"Holy shit. Go shop," he groaned. "Pick a shop. I'll stand outside. Come call me in when you need to pay."

Lyra waved sarcastically at him and went to a shop that had the least strange clothing in the window. She entered it and quickly got to work, grabbing pairs of shorts and jeans, casual tops, some undergarments, and even a different newsboy cap; though white, it lacked the red bow of the one she had left at home.

As she went to the dressing rooms to try on what she'd accrued, she noticed a woman in her early twenties standing near the dressing room, hunched over a Pokegear punching a message furiously. Lyra would have ignored it, but she noticed that the woman had a jet black newsboy twisted sideways on her head. _Team Rocket _was the first thought that sprang to Lyra's head. However, without the rest of the uniform, Lyra couldn't distinguish if it was part of a Team Rocket uniform.

Lyra entered a dressing room. She would keep an eye on this woman, that was for sure. The furious clicking of buttons on a Pokegear could still be heard.

She ran through the stack of clothing easily, discovering most of the clothing made for comfortable fits. Discarding a few choices that she hadn't been particularly fond of, she exited the dressing room with clothing she refused to look at the price tags on. Glancing out the window, she noticed Silver standing under a lamp post. He glared at the sky as though it would calm the sharply brilliant red rays of sunlight that poured through the city streets. Lyra caught his attention by waving, and she headed toward the counter to check out.

"My friend is going to come in and pay in a moment," Lyra remarked to the woman at the register. She was tall and slender, wearing a fashionable white blouse and a pencil skirt over a stick suit that shimmered a grayish blue.

The woman raised her finely-manicured eyebrows, looking at the price tags as she scanned. "That's some friend, huh?"

"I had no idea that cities were this expensive." Silver entered the shop and approached the counter. "Oh, hey! Over here!" she called, beckoning him over.

With a rueful laugh, the woman leaned toward Lyra. "So. He's _just _a friend, huh? He's cute."

Lyra shrugged. "He might want differently." Turning to face Silver, she smiled. "Please pay for my clothes, Silver."

"Yes, let me cut off my arm and leg," he grumbled, dishing out a wad of Pokedollars to pay for the clothing.

Lyra looked around the shop. She noticed that the woman with the Pokegear was heading toward the front of the store, walking with purpose. Obviously, something was up. Lyra would have turned away, but she noticed a ring on her finger. She stiffened—it was an exact copy of Silver's. As Silver thrust the bags of clothing at her, she accepted the pair of bags in one hand and tugged at his sleeve with the other. "Hey, Silver," she breathed. "That woman has the same ring as you. You two married or something?"

Silver bristled. "What woman?" he asked, doing his best to keep his voice down. "Where?"

"She just left the shop and took a right. What do the rings mean?" she asked.

He groaned. "Lyra, come on. We need to track down that woman. Right now."

"Why?" she asked as they headed out of the shop.

Glancing down at her, he simply said, "She's in on the weaponization project. We could get important information."

"Oh. Cool." She shouldered both bags. "Let's get her."

Silver seemed to shoot her a legitimate smile. "That's what I want to hear." His expression becoming more serious, he added, "You better keep up. We're about to run and run fast. Don't be dead weight."

"More like you better keep up and not be dead weight," Lyra responded, and she took off in the direction the woman had disappeared in. Silver cursed loudly and followed her.

* * *

_A/N: Hello, hello. I apologize for the wait on this update; this has been a wild week. I injured myself, dealt with some heavy emotional turmoil and school work, and also played with some cats. All in all...basically an average week during the school year, just not a normal one for the summer. To make up for it this update is a little longer than usual and has 4 POV'S in it (Aurora, Kris, Brendan, Lyra). Do enjoy!_

_Likewise, happy birthday to this fic! It's a month old now! 10 chapters in one month, I believe. Not too shabby; during the school year I barely manage one chapter in a month on anything..._

_I recently was asked what happened to Mew, or the pink Pokemon that showed up in an early chapter who was nosing around in the room Kris, Ethan, and Lyra share (sorry if you hadn't guessed that). Oh, Mew's around. I promise. Observing from afar...waiting to make a move..._

_So part of the Hoenn crew and the Unova crew didn't show up up this chapter, nor did Serena. I don't know if they really will get much screen time for a few chapters or not. The next few are going to build a little more on what the "weaponization" and also focus a little more on the Aether recruits._

_Another thing I've been asked is how long I plan on making this fic. I'm still planning this to be about the length of It's Been A While, give or take a few chapters._

_I'm going to leave off here; I'm about to do a little work on a Colosseumshipping oneshot right now that I'd like to publish, just to see if I can actually do a oneshot. And as always, my Alexandrianshipping piece (which is now over a year and a half old and sits like 1/4 completed in my fics folder) is getting worked on little by little. Neither of those are particularly deep or inspired things, and chances are that it could be years before you see either of those on here. *tactfully avoids any mention of the two fics that I'm publishing and haven't touched in ages*_

_Leave a review, pretty please? It doesn't have to be deep or inspired or critical; you can just be snarky about my characters or something if you want. I like snarky. Until next update, enjoy your days!_


	11. Diligence

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But if I did, I would hire someone to write an academic paper about the "N is a Zoroark" theory.**

* * *

To the surprise and dismay of both Lyra and Silver, in their pursuit of the strange weaponization scientist, they would need to leave Saffron City. The woman had quickly realized that the two were in pursuit and had made a break for the north exit, leading into a wild path overridden with Trainers and small, nippy Pokémon. They lost track of her there, but it seemed that Silver had an idea as to where she was going. "Oh, great," Silver groaned at the edge of town. "I don't really want to follow her this far this late."

"Scared of the dark?" Lyra asked, doubled over carelessly as she attempted to catch her breath. She certainly wasn't out of shape; the clothes bags were heavy. Couldn't the weaponization scientist have shown up at a time other than right after she had acquired some new clothes?

Silver gave her a pointed look that warned her not to insinuate such things. "Not even close. It means we're probably going to end up following her to Cerulean City. That place is crawling with Rockets. It gets really wild over there at night."

"Still? I thought Team Rocket was done goofing around in the Kanto a few years before Aether started causing problems," she replied. "I mean, they're still up to things in the Johto, but not quite like they were in the Kanto."

He sighed. "The Gym Leader in that town, Misty, had one of her most important Pokémon kidnapped by them. They're extorting her into letting them run wild by holding it," he explained. With a hard look, he glared down at Lyra. "You look nauseous. You're not going to throw up after all that running, right? Because that's something a weak person would do."

"It's not the running; it's the running with bags!" Lyra retorted indignantly.

He took the bags from her. "Should've done this sooner," he muttered. Grabbing at the weaponization ring that now sat on his left finger, he twisted it and quietly said, "There are bags. Get them out of here."

Moments later, blue psychic energy engulfed the bags and consumed them. Mewtwo clearly knew what he was up to. "That's pretty handy," Lyra commented enviously.

"Until he 'accidentally' teleports a Raticate into your apartment, yeah," Silver grumbled.

From that point onward, they traveled mostly in silence toward Cerulean City. The only interruption was Silver asking Lyra about the woman's appearance, to which Lyra explained as best as could that she was ridiculously nondescript except for the black Rocket-style hat cocked sideways on her head. "If she takes that hat off, she'll easily get away. She just had shoulder-length brunette hair, and like an average body type and average height, and like jeans and a gray v-neck shirt over her stick suit," Lyra explained, her tone becoming more despondent as she realized they'd entered a hunt for a needle in a haystack.

Silver rubbed at his jaw. "That could be like half of the weaponization team right there." He ceased the motion and growled low in his throat, a sound of pure exasperation. "I can't really help but wish I was shorter and didn't have the red hair thing going on. It's really hard to move around unnoticed in the Johto especially, since your stupid-ass friend had to knock my hood off that night and get a look at my face and hair."

Lyra raised her eyebrows. "Why not dye your hair?"

An empty, blank emotion fluttered across his face briefly before Silver scowled at her. All he muttered was, "Reasons."

Fifteen minutes later, they reached the end of the route—potentially one of the shortest routes Lyra had ever encountered—and stood at the gate leading into Cerulean City. Silver grabbed her arm, stopping her from entering. "Right now, if we go into this city, you have to promise me that you're not going to flip out on me. I'm not joking when I say this city is wild at night. There are going to be members of Team Rocket hanging out on street corners. There will probably be some scary, illegal battles going on in the streets. You need to keep a brave face and not freak out. Got that?" he challenged.

Lyra freed her arm from his grasp and nodded. "I'm tougher than you think, Silver." She rolled her shoulders, groaning appreciatively as they cracked, and pushed the doors to the gate open. "Let's track down that woman."

* * *

Silver had to give Lyra a little bit more credit; she certainly wore a good poker face when she needed to, although she had Copper slung over her shoulders and a close proximity to Silver. Cerulean City was quite the place at night, and he couldn't blame her if she felt a little threatened.

As soon as they set foot in the city, a prostitute solicited Silver. Yes. A prostitute. Clearly Lyra had never seen one outside of a movie and expected a waifish blonde with implants. No, this was a small, curvy Johtonese woman in a semi-sheer stick suit, one worn under formal wear like dresses, with a bandeau and a tiny pair of shorts covering essential areas.

Things only seemed to get worse from there. Near the Pokémon Center was a street battle between a terrifying woman in biker leather and a Team Rocket grunt. Lyra drew a little closer to Silver as she noticed that the Rocket's Arbok was bleeding horribly from a head wound and seemed to be missing an eye, although that seemed to be an old development.

The woman in biker leather ordered her Pokémon, a Golduck, to use Psychic. The move was so powerful that Arbok was thrown against a building. Enraged, the Rocket called for the snake Pokémon, who peeled away looking angry and a little dazed, to use Poison Fang.

Lyra and Silver had to rush out of the way as Arbok's fangs sunk into Golduck's neck, sending both Pokémon tumbling in their general direction. Blood squirted across the path in an arterial spurt; some of it splattered on Lyra's thigh.

"That's so illegal," she whispered as they hurried past. "One of those Pokémon is going to die."

"You don't say," Copper hissed to her. He, too, seemed quite unnerved.

Silver eyed them both with a rather flat look. "Don't. Freak. Out," he whispered at them.

Lyra chuckled, but the sound was thin. As they got past the battle, the atmosphere changed. The wild battle atmosphere faded, and it was instead replaced with a clandestine, challenging sort of air. Men in trench coats sold watches. A slender, dark-skinned woman offered to make fake IDs and Trainer Cards at the "best price in town", while a tiny, carrot-haired man claimed that while his were not that lowest price, they would pass any inspection. Stolen stick suits were up for sale, as were long, ragged swathes of stick fabric torn from abandoned houses.

In the dilapidated streets, Silver noticed a man selling what looked like stolen—or maybe pawned, if he was having a good night—jewelry. He would have ignored it, but that was where Lyra drifted over to. "Wow, this is some pretty stuff," she mentioned to the man, giving her a lovely smile.

"Lyra, what the hell are you doing!?" he hissed.

The man was somewhat familiar to Silver; he had actually once been a reputable jeweler in Cerulean City before the spatial rends and the Rocket takeover. His father had often taken his wedding ring there for resizing and cleanings, even after Silver's mother had died.

In the past few years, fancy diamond rings and brand-new jewelry fell out of fashion, and contraband had become the only way to make it in a business of that nature. Needless to say, he was one of the kinder people on this street and wouldn't hurt Lyra, but they had a mission at hand!

The jeweler smiled at Lyra, who looked over the goods with a certain sparkle in her eye. "It certainly is. It's a shame it's not the quality I used to be able to sell," he admitted shamefully.

Lyra smiled sympathetically. The expression seemed suspicious to Silver; what was she really up to? "Well, I'm from the middle of nowhere. A lot of this stuff looks pretty fancy to me, so I think people are selling you good stuff."

"Likewise, my street runners steal good things," he admitted shamefacedly.

Lyra browsed through his wares before picking up a ring. "Wow. This is pretty," she commented, and Silver recoiled at the sight. It was an identical copy of his ring, but in a woman's size. "It's warm, too. Like…it came right off of someone's hand," she remarked.

"I just bought it from a woman about ten minutes ago, actually. She was in quite the hurry, heading up to the cape it looked like," he mentioned with a frown. "That place is so desolate. There used to be the Nugget Bridge challenge and also Bill's house, but that is no more."

It clicked in Silver's head that Lyra had thought of something that he hadn't; of course the woman would get rid of her only identifying feature. It was a beautiful, expensive-looking ring, and it would be sold to some other woman quickly, throwing her pursuers off. Meanwhile, Lyra set it back on the table. "I would love to buy it, but it's quite a bit too large for me, I think, and it would also cost too much."

"There are plenty of other things you could buy here at an inexpensive price," the man remarked with a pleasant smile.

About a minute later, Lyra did indeed leave with a piece of jewelry: a black choker with a cameo pendant acquired for about 1,500 Pokedollars. "I figured I should pay him for that tidbit of information," she commented, stashing it safely in her bag. "Plus, the cameo has a Vulpix in it. I love Vulpix; aside from Quilava, they're one of my favorites. How can I resist?"

She noticed Silver staring at her with an odd facial expression. "What?" she goaded.

"Can I fry him?" Copper asked enthusiastically. "I don't like the look he's giving you."

Lyra tapped his nose in discipline before turning to Silver. "Well?"

"That was smart as hell," he commented. Lyra gazed up at him, her eyes wide at the praise. "I would've just spent the night making us go to different haunts. Not only did you figure out she pawned her ring, but we also know where she went. I could hug you."

"But let me guess: you don't do hugs," Lyra said dryly, though her smile was genuine.

He shook his head and directed their path toward exiting the small city. "Not here."

"Can I keep a tally?"

"No."

"How about a scorekeeping system?"

"Fuck no."

"It's either that or I threaten you with Copper until you give me the hug you owe me."

"Don't you dare listen to her, you damned fiery fleabag!"

Lyra had to soothe Copper once again as they moved. Silver was surprised that he was such an indignant, fiery Pokémon when his Trainer was so sweet. Once he had calmed down, she decided, "I'll just cry until you give me one, then."

Silver didn't reply to her verbal decision. The Nugget Bridge was in sight. "As much as I'd love to chat about this, we're going to the cape now. So shut up."

Lyra rolled her eyes. They crossed Nugget Bridge, which no longer retained its golden sheen. For years, the honey-colored wood had been polished to a high shine and stained an even brighter shade of gold, giving the bridge and the challenge that took place on the bridge its renowned name. The wood creaked and groaned under their feet.

"It better not break," Copper growled as a particularly loud one startled him to a point of spitting embers.

"It's not _that _bad," Silver replied.

Copper glowered at him. "Fuck off. Your name is girly."

"Look at the pot calling the kettle black! We both have the name of a metal!"

Lyra simply smiled at their interaction, watching the water below the bridge. Unlike the dirty, overrun quality of the city, the path leading to the Cerulean Cape was beautiful and calm. The moon overhead reflected like a milky opal on the water. Lyra looked so serene in this lighting, with lashes that glinted silver at the ends and eyes that seemed as dark and soft as the folds of black silk.

Silver hoped it would remain a peaceful night, but he knew that wasn't likely. The woman who decided to escape to the cape was cornered, since the waters were violent and frigid there. A current from the north pushed frigid arctic waters to the ocean in that part of the Kanto. "Lyra," he said, the name rolling softly off his tongue. They had made it to the end of the bridge, and they took a break there as Silver voiced his concerns to Lyra. "The weaponization scientists are brutal people with incredibly powerful Pokémon. They used to do horrible things to Mewtwo and me. She's cornered up here. I haven't seen you battle yet, but I know for a fact you aren't going to be ruthless enough to protect yourself from someone like her if she decides to go after you."

Lyra raised her eyebrows. "Are you concerned about protecting me?"

Silver certainly was concerned about that for multiple reasons, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "I'm concerned that your strongest Pokémon is a Quilava when she might have a Dragonite."

"He's level 50," Lyra said listlessly.

He paused. "A level 50 Quilava?" He asked, his voice tinged with disbelief.

"I'm waiting to learn a few moves sooner," Copper admitted. "Plus, I haven't come to terms with the fact that I have this sneaking suspicion that I'll be purple when I evolve."

"Well, you're not wrong," Silver said, unsure of how to react to the Quilava's confession.

Lyra cleared her throat. "The point is that Copper is powerful, and I will not force him to evolve if he's not ready. He is more than enough to protect me, and you know absolutely nothing about what we're like in battle," she replied with a coy smile. With that, she began to slowly make her way down the steps leading to solid ground again. Silver watched her, and in his watching, he observed a dark hole in the ground beside the stairs, wide enough to fit an Arbok. It was strange, since there were no Arbok around here; there wasn't enough food to feed an Ekans if it evolved. Maybe it belonged to some other serpentine Pokémon.

This tactic seemed uncomfortably familiar. The more he thought about it, the more he began to understand the identity of the woman and the Pokémon that was down that hole.

He quickly stopped her from getting off the stairs, grabbing her by the waist and yanking her back onto the bridge. "Silver—" she started, clearly annoyed and already trying to tear out of his grip, but he quickly shushed her.

"You see that hole over there?" he whispered in her ear. "An Ekans will sometimes make a den like that, but not one that big. Arbok can't really live around here; there's not enough food and the competition is too fierce. That's an Arbok that belongs to a Team Rocket executive. I'm convinced the woman is a Rocket executive in disguise."

"So…it's an ambush. You were right about this lady acting like a cornered Pokémon," she replied thoughtfully. Grabbing at Silver's forearms, she began to dig her nails in. "Now let go of me. This isn't the way to repay an owed hug."

Silver sighed and released her. "That was not a fucking hug."

Lyra was peering over the railing of the bridge at the hole. "Hey, Copper, shoot a flamethrower down that hole."

"Lyra, wait a minute—"

It was too late. Copper spewed a huge column of fire down the hole, and he was rewarded with a hiss of anger from none other than an Arbok. With a frustrated sigh, Silver noticed that the column of fire had also alerted a Murkrow and a Vileplume, for the Pokémon clambered out of the trees nearby with a vengeful look. "Lyra, you just pissed off my aunt's Pokémon," he admitted heavily while calling out his Croconaw and Sneasel to battle.

"Oh! I'm sorry! If I'd known it was your aunt's Pokémon I would've used Swift instead! Much less damaging," she replied. "Hey, Quilava, you want to use Lava Plume? I'm pretty sure we can get all three of these bozos in one go."

Silver sighed loudly. She was absolutely hopeless when it came to tact.

* * *

Brendan was not used to the trickle of thought that seemed to be pooling in the left side of his brain. The anger and hatred within it was startling, but it wasn't anything he wasn't used to.

Hovering across from him in this blank white recovery room and pointedly not looking at him was Darkrai. After four attempts to subdue him, Brendan had finally succeeded. The Legendary had polluted his mind with nightmare after nightmare, leaving Brendan in nearly consolable tears after the third attempt. When he had finally succeeded, he hadn't known how to react. The Legendary hated him. In fact, Darkrai hated just about everybody. Every thought that came through his head involved hate in some way.

He just wanted to get along with the Pokémon the way Aurora and Shaymin got along.

Nearby, the younger girl sat on a bed with Shaymin on her shoulder. Her brown eyes had taken on an odd, greenish quality; it was as though someone splashed watercolors through her pupils. "He doesn't like you much, does he?" Aurora asked Brendan.

"He hasn't spoken to me once, but I can hear everything he's thinking about," Brendan said pointedly, glowering at Darkrai.

Shaymin seemed to shrug. _You just attempted to beat the life from him. I doubt that he has much fondness for you._

"Aurora just about shocked you into the next century! How can you be okay with her?" Brendan demanded. His arms were practically flapping from the indignity of it all!

Shaymin hopped off her antithesis's shoulder and flapped around with her large, flowing ears. With a lighthearted voice, she replied, _Aurora stood up for me. She felt bad. She stopped viewing me as a challenge and started viewing me as living thing._

Brendan sighed. "You're saying I don't see Darkrai as a living thing?"

"She's saying you saw him as nothing but a challenge and want to use him as a tool; of course he hates you. I thought you were a little better than that," Aurora replied coolly. He wished the green would leave her eyes. He wished Shaymin's words would leave her head. He wished Darkrai's words would enter his.

Brendan turned away. "You hardly sound like yourself."

"Well, shit, I'm beginning to think I hardly know what you sound like," Aurora replied. Heading for the door, she waited for it to slide open and for Shaymin to return to her shoulder. Before leaving, she turned to look at Brendan. "You seem like two different people. Figure out which one is actually you, how about?" She left him alone with Darkrai, who still wasn't looking at him.

He sighed. Was Aurora's fun-loving personality swamped by that Shaymin now? Internally, he hoped that she was just angry at him and that she would begin acting like herself again soon.

Facing forward, he looked at Darkrai. As soon as he did, the left side of his skull pounded and he felt a deeply overwhelming sense of disappointment in there. "What?" Brendan demanded, throwing his hands wide. "What do you want me to do? Just start talking at you? Being nice? You're not exactly making this easy!"

Darkrai fired a Dark Pulse at him, which slammed into his chest like a load of bricks. He wheezed, dropping to one knee. "Yeah, see? See what I mean?" Brendan demanded. "You're a dick!"

A voice crackled over the intercom. "Are you having difficulties in there, Mr. Parr?" It was Cruz, who sounded mildly amused. "Did your bravado backfire?"

"This raggedy jackass hates me!" Brendan retorted, coughing hard.

"Are you sure that he's the raggedy jackass?" Cruz asked smugly.

Brendan groaned. "Don't you have more important things to do?"

"Well, I bonded with Latios in one try with an injured back. Not really. He says hello, by the way."

Brendan dropped his head to the tile, about ready to cry. This was ridiculous. Even the cripple had a better relationship with his Legendary—Cruz even did it one shot! Aurora and Shaymin were like an old married couple. "This is so not fair," he muttered.

"Like Aurora so eloquently said, you should stop treating Darkrai like an object," Cruz said. "Now, come on out of there with that Darkrai. We have to run a few tests on you. Take a right when you leave the room."

Brendan sighed. Scrambling to his feet, he eyed Darkrai. "Well? You coming?"

Much to his surprise, a young, almost boyish voice answered him. _It isn't like I have a choice, _Darkrai said sourly, drifting over to follow him. _And for the record, I despise you._

"I knew that already!" Brendan bemoaned.

The pair left the waiting room. No more conversation was made. Brendan wondered if he would ever be able to have a civil conversation with the hateful legendary.

* * *

_A/N: Hello, hello! It is I, Mars! It's been about 84 hours since my last update so I decided to fix that. I've mostly been working on summer work for AP Comp and also looking ACT/SAT times. Likewise, I've also been working on a portrait of Jim Morrison for my mom and making a gift basket for a friend whose dad is very ill. I actually wrote most of this today and let Tamar look at it. If there are glaring grammatical errors, it's because I'm in a fast writing mode (not a bad writing mode; I'm already starting work on the next update. I just wanted to get a new one out to you guys) and Tamar was also trying to roleplay as Vriska Serket while editing. _

_So. This whole update I was listening to the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony. Even now, I'm still listening to it (the Twilight Princess movement). I really really love the music for that series and also it's classical music! It's so cool! My favorite instruments get featured really heavily in the music so yay!_

_Silver has been really good at underestimating Lyra. Excellent deductive skills? A level 50 Quilava? Shamelessly fire-power heavy battling? An ultra rare Togepi in hereparty? My, what a lass that Lyra!(regret-free Beauty and The Beast reference). Nice work, son._

_Brendan and Darkrai do not get along. Surprising? No. Brendan will not recant his conquistador attitude and remains boxed out by the nightmare Pokemon._

_I was recently asked about the Sinnoh protags, and I can't say. It'll be a spoiler if I say, so...nope._

_Sooner or later Steven et all will return. I promise._

_Leave a review if you like; I'll probably update again before Thursday afternoon. If not, I probably finally got the flute I actually need and decided to mess around with it._

_So, until next update, take care of yourself and remember to do some housework for your mom. That'd be nice for her._


	12. Communication

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I do not own anything. I roam the forests and bathe in lakes. I am N Harmonia.**

* * *

The sheer firepower of Lyra and Copper was something that Silver had no idea how to cope with. He had seen fully-evolved Fire-types that couldn't produce the tall, plumes of flame that almost immediately KO-ed Vileplume and sent Murkrow packing. He quickly returned Croconaw and Sneasel; there would be no need for them in this battle.

Arbok, however, wasn't so easily fazed. "What the actual hell? You're just a Quilava?" he demanded of Copper.

"'Just a Quilava' sounds a little offensive," Copper growled.

"Swift," Lyra ordered, and the Pokémon shot yellow stars at Arbok. "Take him down."

Silver watched in amazement as the Quilava began to battle without orders. Almost all Pokémon bound by Pokeballs needed orders to be able to fight properly, but Copper seemed to know exactly what his Trainer wanted. Every time he landed a powerful blow, Lyra nodded slowly. "How?" Silver whispered at her.

"I have no badges. He doesn't have to listen to me, but we grew up together and trained extensively together under my direction, so he has a great amount of respect for me," she replied with yet another shit-eating grin. "So sometimes, to reward his good behavior, I just let him have at it. He's actually kind of cruel naturally."

"That is so fucking stupid," Silver replied, dragging his hand down his face. He was grossly appalled by what Lyra had just told him; how reckless was she? "What if he scorches you?"

"Why do you think I had singed pigtails when you first met me and now a short bob?" Lyra replied.

He glared at her. "Who the hell dropped you on your head when you were a baby?"

Lyra simply grinned at him yet again and watched Copper. He was a deadly Pokémon. Arbok lunged for him, her fangs extended, and he dipped out of the way, firing yet another Flamethrower directly into Arbok's face. "How vicious are you?!" she snapped while cringing.

"How big of a pansy are you?" Copper replied with a smirk. He attacked again, this time using Aerial Ace.

"His moves are Lava Plume, Flamethrower, Swift, and Aerial Ace?" Silver asked.

Lyra nodded. Copper landed another Aerial Ace, followed it quickly with Lava Plume, and quickly ended it with Swift. Arbok lay crumpled in defeat, her scales singed as black as a winter midnight around her face. He yowled loudly in his victory, baring sharp, bestial fangs before trotting over to Lyra and demanding to be picked up. "You're such a baby," she chided him, wiping soot off of his head.

"Did she get any poison on me?" Copper asked, unable to keep the whine out of his voice. "It makes my fur look really ugly."

Silver gazed at the interaction between the Pokémon and his Trainer with a nonplussed expression. He felt like making a snarky comment, but something else—or so to say, someone else—captured his attention. "Well," he said loudly, "nice of you to show up, _Ariana."_

The nondescript woman from earlier had appeared with a Murkrow on her shoulder, except now she wasn't so nondescript. He recognized his own cheekbones and chin in her face, as well as his skin tone. Ariana Sharp was his mother's sister, and a Team Rocket Admin. "Why did you have to chase me here?" she asked warily, baring her teeth in an animalistic fashion.

"Why do you think?" Silver retorted, crossing his arms. He descended the stairs the end of the bridge and came face-to-face with his relative. "Where are the birds?"

"Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres?" Ariana laughed coldly. "Not here. Can I go now?"

Silver growled angrily. "No. That's not the answer I'm looking for."

"Would your mother be okay with how hateful you are?" Ariana asked, laughing wryly. She pushed her cap off of her head—as well as a wig. She had disguised herself well; her spiky red hair flipped up, and Silver wanted to suddenly cut his off, dye it, change _everything _about himself. He wore his hair the way it was in honor of his mother, but it was more of a reminder of a woman who was still alive and deeply evil.

Lyra joined him, marching up to the woman. "Wow. You really look like Silver. That's wild."

"Who are you?" Ariana demanded. "His girlfriend?"

"Well, I see where he gets the whole being a blunt idiot thing from," Lyra muttered, much to Silver's chagrin. Looking up, she raised an eyebrow. "As much as I'd love to sit and chat, we need some information. There isn't really a good way out of this. I took down two of your Pokémon and I'm pretty sure my Pokémon can deep-fry your Murkrow."

"Harsh," Murkrow muttered.

Ariana sighed. "What makes you think all I can do is sic Pokémon on you?" She reached into the waistband of her jeans and pulled out a handheld pistol. "I don't care that you're just a kid and he's my nephew. I will shoot my way out of this," she said, fiddling with the gun with a toxic smile.

Silver instinctively moved in front of Lyra. He had gotten her into this; internally he cursed himself for not taking her back to the apartment or maybe even bringing her home. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Ariana. You talk about your sister hating how hateful I am, but at least I didn't just threaten to kill you!"

"Do you think I care much about blood?" Ariana replied. She suddenly leveled the gun, pointing it at Lyra. "Once you join Team Rocket, once that's all you have…then blood is nothing but a liquid on the ground."

Much to Silver's surprise, Lyra wasn't at all frightened by this development. She raised her eyebrows. "I'm not really a potty-mouth like your nephew, but holy shit, that was the corniest, most melodramatic speech I've ever heard. That gun doesn't even look real."

Silver's eyes were directed to the gun. He couldn't see any detail in the moonlight, but Lyra had be better angle. Ariana's lips curled at the suggestion of having a fake gun on her; she snarled, "I will shoot. Then we'll see who's calling it fake then."

Lyra thrust her hand out, grabbing the barrel of the gun. The movement took Ariana by surprise, but she wasn't fast enough to stop the weapon from being torn from her grasp. However, she was fast enough to lash out and reach for it again. "Give that back! I need that!"

Silver stopped her easily, bracing his hands against his aunt's shoulders. "Did you honestly threaten us with a fake gun?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, you dumbass," she spat.

Lyra had shoved the fake weapon into her bag and now stood with her eyebrows raised. "Okay, look, we're not mucking around anymore. Can you just tell us?"

"What the hell makes you think I know?" Ariana spat. "The only people who are in on that are Giovanni and this group of Aether scientists. I do know they're not in Hoenn, because they aren't in the Aether database, which is one of the few things _I _have access to."

"That's really useful! We can just go check the Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Almia, Orre, wherever the fuck else now!" Silver muttered angrily.

"They haven't been transported, dumbass," Ariana grumbled. "They're still here in the Kanto. I just have no clue where. Now let me go."

"I thought you weren't going to tell us anything?" Lyra asked, eyebrows raised.

She pointed at her chest with her thumb. "I'm looking out for number one here. That's my first loyalty. Also, I'm running late. Maybe it'll shut you brats up." Pushing her hair off of her neck, she pulled back from Silver. "Plus, it did buy us some time."

"Buy who some time…?" Lyra began to question, but suddenly a loud, bone-rattling screech dragged Lyra's and Silver's attentions up toward the night sky. A swarm of large, bat-like Dragon Pokémon approached the bridge from the sea. "Oh my Arceus, are those _Noivern? _That's amazing! I've only seen one on TV before!"

Ariana gazed at her with a mildly disgusted look. "They're going to tear you to shreds and you think they're amazing? Are you some sort of masochist or something?"

Silver grabbed at Lyra's arm and tugged at it. Absolutely no part of him felt ready to take on a dozen or more high-leveled Dragon-type Pokémon without the help of Mewtwo. "We're going to run now, okay?" he hissed.

"Oh, believe me, I'm terrified, too. They're just cool," she replied as they took off down the bridge.

A purple-tinged ball of dragon fire slammed into the place they had just stood. Silver roared, "Ariana, you're an awful person!" over his shoulder.

She gave no reply, but he could assume that she was pleased. The Noivern quickly approached, and Copper fired a Swift attack from Lyra's shoulder to perhaps deter them. It did little; like Copper, they were high-leveled. As dragons, they had tough hides and no patience. If anything, it alerted them to the exact position of their targets. "Sorry. We have to run," she whispered, returning him to his Pokeball.

Silver scanned the other side of Nugget Bridge for places to hide. There was no way to outrun such fast Pokémon. The Noivern were fast approaching; maybe he and Lyra would just have to jump into the water and hide in the shadow of the bridge. He glanced over his shoulder and realized that was exactly what they would have to do. "Lyra, jump off this bridge," Silver huffed.

"What? Now?" Lyra gasped, obviously confused as to what his plan was.

There wasn't time for that. He grabbed her as they were running, guided her over to the railing, and hefted her over. He paused mid-heft, with Lyra pressed awkwardly against him, and informed her, "Get under the bridge after you're down there. And stay quiet; we'll avoid them like that." Then, he completed the hefting motion and let her go. Thankfully, she was smart enough not to squall over it. Running a little further down the bridge, he took a flying leap off the bridge. It wasn't a long drop; a fifteen foot fall into water still happened to be painful, especially since he wasn't in the proper position. The water enveloped him like the maw of a great beast, and it took Silver a brief moment to regain his bearings. He noticed the moon overhead and a great, ink-black patch ahead and understood that to be the deep shadows beneath the bridge. Swimming over to it, he only surfaced once he was in the dark patch, and he quietly clung to one of the wooden supports. His lungs burned, but he hardly dared to breathe. He heard the screeching of a dozen or more Noivern passing overhead.

With baited breath Silver watched as they scanned the river, tails swishing. They were large Pokémon—not massive or bulky—but their size was intimidating. Silver didn't want to imagine how their sharp fangs felt penetrating his jugular.

Five minutes passed before their screeching subsided; they had flown past the bridge entirely. Silver risked whispering, "Lyra?"

"Over here," she whispered back just loud enough for him to hear. Swimming past the supports, he encountered Lyra clinging to it with both her arms and legs wrapped around it looking particularly angered. "Silver, next time, can you maybe lend me Croconaw if you're going to throw me off a bridge? I can't swim," she admitted as he treaded water nearby.

He gawked at her. "You could've warned me or something!"

"Weren't you the one who said there was no time?" Lyra questioned him in a flat voice.

Silver sighed. Fishing around in his jacket pocket, he retrieved Croconaw's Pokeball and released him. "You still made it to the bridge."

"You just dropped me like five feet from it; I flailed my arms and legs around a little and came up to this thing somehow," she replied, reaching out to cling to Croconaw.

They swam to shore. Croconaw seemed to put up with Lyra's chattering quite nicely, although Silver knew he was nowhere near as curmudgeonly as Sneasel. In fact, he was a very sociable Pokémon, and sometimes his Trainer felt bad that he couldn't quite keep up a conversation to Croconaw's liking.

"If you'd like, I can teach you how to swim," Croconaw offered her, breaking Silver from his thoughts as he swam. "It probably won't be the best way for a human to do it, but at least you'll stay afloat."

"Maybe later," Lyra said with a laugh. "Right now I'm kind of done with the whole being thrown into water thing."

Silver let their chatter slip from his mind. His muscles burned, and his thoughts were aflutter. The legendary birds were still in the Kanto, according to Ariana, but where at? He had infiltrated every known Rocket base discreetly and had searched. Where could they be at? They had to find them and free them before they met a terrible fate. Giovanni was not about to get away with this.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Brendan couldn't believe his eyes; a trio of Aether employees had appeared with stun guns and had started to fire plugs into his Darkrai. Just minutes before, they had left the room and followed Cruz's directions until they appeared in yet another featureless room—Aether was relatively good at supply those, it seemed.

But the minute they had walked in, the employees had appeared and started firing upon Darkrai.

Through their mental link, Brendan felt what would best be described as static on a television set. "Leave him alone! He hasn't hurt me!" Brendan shouted at these employees, who seemed to be ignoring him.

In desperation, he roared, "Cruz! What the hell is going on here?"

"_She _is no longer at the controls. I am," said none other than Corona over the intercom. A curl of hatred swirled painfully in Brendan's stomach; the cruel woman had made her return. Not only that, but the way she incorrectly referred to Cruz as a "she" seemed deliberate and as a measure to crush her. "It seems my _subordinate _is a bit too kind. That Darkrai sent you into nightmares for hours at a time. It also just used a move against you. Punishment is necessary."

The static increased as Darkrai crashed to the ground, unable to stay afloat with the attacks. Brendan rushed over and screamed, "Cut it out! Are you seriously just going to cut him down for not liking me?"

_Don't…provoke them…_Darkrai mumbled mentally.

"Sir, please step out of the way," a sturdy female employee ordered. "This creature is deadly."

Brendan dug into his pockets, grabbing Tropius and Delcatty's Pokeballs. "I will fight you. Maybe I don't like him much, but you guys kicking him around for having an opinion and maybe lashing out a little is pretty shitty." He realized he still had his own stun gun tucked into his belt. Shooting his way out seemed like a possibility, combined with the presence of his Pokémon and the brass knuckles still fitted against his fist.

"Your bond clearly isn't strong. You should be on the floor by now, the way Darkrai has been stunned," Corona mentioned over the intercom. "If I had done this to Shaymin, Aurora would have been on the floor, too. I'd like to test that next, to see the depth of the connection. Then maybe Cruz and Latios after that. We'll just go right on down the line."

He wasn't sure when or how it happened. But it seemed that the stun gun already had a charge—how convenient—and so he fired it at the nearest employee. The man dropped to the floor as the other two employees turned their stun guns on him. "Recruit Parr, stand down!" the sturdy woman shouted. "Violence is not the answer!"

"You're hilarious," Brendan growled, a strange, sick smile spreading over his features. He released Tropius and Delcatty. "Sunny Day. Follow it up with Solar Beam. Delcatty, go with Return."

The employees called out Pokémon, but theirs were no match for Brendan's: an Azumarill and a Raichu. Tropius blasted Azumarill into the nearest wall with a Solar Beam attack while Delcatty rammed into Raichu with her shoulder. Once again, they made quick work of their opponents. How couldn't they? They were under his command: his brutal, efficient command. It didn't bother him that Azumarill seemed crumpled and unresponsive on the floor. Nor did it bother him that Delcatty attacked Raichu until he spat blood.

Turning to the employees, who stared at him in fear, he ordered, "So leave Darkrai alone. Leave me alone."

They scrambled to their fallen comrade, returned their injured Pokémon, and left the room. Brendan was alone with Darkrai, who gazed steadily at him.

"What?" Brendan demanded as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "What's that look for?"

_That was brutal, _Darkrai stated simply.

Brendan growled, "What do you expect me to do? I'm angry beyond belief, but you would get that. The only thing you and I have in common is that we're fucking pissed at everything," he snarled, dropping to the floor. "It's wrong that I don't even feel bad about harming their Pokémon. But I don't even care."

Darkrai sighed. _Yes, you don't have to talk about it. I understand; we have this mental connection thing going, right? They put this chip near my brainstem that forces me to connect to you without a Pokeball. It's deplorable, _he admitted with a groan.

The two sat in contemplative silence. Brendan already knew that he was going to be in trouble. How could he not be in trouble? He had horribly injured two Pokémon and stunned a human employee with high voltage. "You hate me, right?" he asked Darkrai quietly.

Darkrai shrugged. _Dumb question. Of course I hate you. But at least you stood up for me, right?_

"Even if you hate me, will you at least work with me?" Brendan asked him.

_I can't refuse, but nor can you refuse me, _Darkrai admitted.

Brendan frowned. "Really? Prove it."

Darkrai's mouth was not visible, but he could've sworn the nightmare-eating Pokémon smirked. _Get up and shout "I want a smoothie" at the top of your lungs._

Brendan tried to refuse, but he was strangely compelled to clamber to his feet. Sucking in a deep breath, he bellowed, "I WANT A SMOOTHIE!" He quickly clamped his hands over his mouth and glared at Darkrai.

_See what I mean? I can order you around if I so choose to as well. So don't get all up on your high Rapidash here; we're on a level playing field, _Darkrai replied.

Brendan flopped to the ground with a loud sigh. "I don't like this. It's weird."

_You and me both._

They sat there, waiting for trouble to find them. Surely it would, for was anything peaceful while Aether was around and the world was obviously ending?

* * *

It was a rainy night in Pewter City. Go figure. Kris hated the rain; she didn't like the cold and the wet. It had taken her the span of the day to make it from the Johto to the Kanto region, and she already remembered why she despised the Kanto. It was such a dreary place. Even the weather seemed to understand how quiet and gloomy a large chunk of the region—especially the western half—seemed.

She headed into the Pokémon Center in town to escape the rain for a while and to heal her Pokémon. It had been a while since she had been to a Pokémon Center like this. Kris had scoured Pallet Town, where the ocean winds were frigid, searched Viridian City, where there seemed to be a great hullabaloo about the Gym Leader Blue and his Champion friend Rd vandalizing some abandoned mansion, and then here she was finally in Pewter City. Due to the rain and a bone-aching exhaustion, Kris decided to rest. She came to the realization that the Kanto was a huge place; encountering Lyra would be a massive stroke of luck.

A better plan was needed, but what could she do?

Standing at the desk as she waited for her Pokémon to heal, she heard the door open and hurried feet rush in. Kris knew better than to not check out what was going on, so she turned to watch a girl of her age run into the Pokémon Center, crying loudly. Yet this wasn't any girl. It was the Gym Leader Misty from Cerulean City—what was she doing here?

"Nurse Joy!" Misty shouted as she shook rain from her hair. "I need you right now!"

As she came up to the desk, she turned to look at Kris. "This is important! Don't interrupt!" Misty shouted at her, her face glowing red with grief.

Kris crossed her arms. She didn't have time for this or for the Gym Leader's snippiness. "Okay, what's wrong? What do you need?"

"Someone to talk to!" She paused as Kris gave her a pointed look. "Just not you."

"What's wrong with me?" Kris asked.

Nurse Joy appeared from the back, carrying a tray filled with Kris's Pokeballs. She didn't seem terribly surprised by Misty's appearance, but she didn't seem to be particularly overjoyed, either. "What brings you here this late?"

"Joy, I'm just so shot. I'm tired. I can't sleep at night. They're extorting me with Starmie, and I came here to see if I could stay with Brock for the night and he's not even around," she replied huffily. She set her arms on the counter and crossed them, sighing sadly. "I don't know what to do."

Kris gently tapped her shoulder. "Who has Starmie?"

It was Nurse Joy who replied, "Team Rocket. They've been able to overrun Cerulean City because they took her Starmie and obviously blackmailing her into not acting against them."

"That's rough," Kris remarked as Misty began to shake with overflowing tears of rage and helplessness.

"You think?" Misty growled at her.

Nurse Joy exchanged glances with Kris. The look told her that the woman had been putting up with Misty running in crying and shaking often. "Misty, I hate to turn you away right now, but we have a Golduck in the ICU because of a nasty fight in Cerulean City. An Arbok bit his throat and poisoned him badly, and I need to keep an eye on him. I can't be distracted."

"Um…okay…" Misty mumbled into the counter.

Kris felt terrible. This girl needed someone, and no one had time for her. Much to her surprise, she found herself rubbing Kris's back slowly with one hand. "Hey. You can talk to me if you want. I promise I don't bite."

"…O-okay," Misty mumbled.

Biting back a sigh, Kris asked what all was going on. She didn't think that the Gym Leader would actually accept her help, to be honest, and she thought that she would be on her way to bed soon. "Well, all right. Let's go talk somewhere."

"Thank you," Misty said, peeling away from the counter. "I'm sorry I was so rude."

"No problem," Kris replied with a sigh. Actually, she did have a problem with that, but what could she do now? Hadn't she already agreed to helping the girl?

She just hoped it wouldn't take all night.

* * *

"Leaf! What the hell! You split and let Red and I take all the blame for this?!"

Leaf sat upon the shoulder of her Magmortar, smiling mischievously as her old friends ran up to her looking rather angry as they observed Viridian City from the top of a nearby hill. "You were the one who convinced Red that it was a good idea to attack the place with a Charizard. For all you know, they were actually there and were scared into teleporting away."

Blue sighed. "I had so much hell to pay."

Red, with Charizard tailing behind him, plopped down next to leaf. He replied, "She's not famous like us. She's a researcher with a Pokedex filled with over 500 entries, but that doesn't make a person famous around here. So, whenever all three of us fuck up, they usually only notice that it's you and me, not you, me, and Leaf."

"I like it that way," she replied. Hopping down from Magmortar's broad shoulder, she let her and Charizard goof around together. She approached her friends; sometimes it startled her how tall they had both gotten, even now that they were in their twenties. She herself had grown tall; she was a few inches over five and a half feet tall, taller than the average woman. But Red had to be six feet tall, and Blue was close to that. "So I've been thinking. If anyone was there and they teleported, where would they have gone to?"

"Somewhere in region. No Pokémon is powerful enough to teleport to a completely different region," Blue replied thoughtfully.

Red sighed. "Does it matter? Why do we care?"

"I don't give a crap, one way or another," Leaf replied. The night was too warm, and she had a sudden desire to chop off her thick, light brown hair. "I'm just mentioning it."

The friends stood awkwardly for a moment. "You know," Blue began to say, "it's been a long time since we messed things up together. It's nice that we caved a roof in on a mansion that no one has lived in for the past ten years, but there are other things to do."

"What are you getting at?" Red asked warily.

He pointed to the northeast and grinned. "Cerulean City is a ways that way. We could go mess up some Rocket grunts. I mean, that's more what Red used to do, but we had our fun with it too sometimes. Right, Leaf?"

Leaf gathered her hair and tied it into a bushy ponytail as she thought back on those days. More often than not she had told Red and Blue to be careful while messing with Team Rocket; she only partook in the battling of grunts if it was somehow detrimental to her catching Pokémon or potentially harmful for Red and Blue to do it alone. They got themselves into ridiculously stupid situations at times, then and now. "I don't remember it being that fun," she replied.

"'Cuz you're such a stick in the mud. You've always been one. We should totally go wipe out some grunts. I know that Giovanni—screw him for returning from his mysterious disappearance or whatever—will just send more there, but it'd be good. We haven't battled in ages," Blue replied.

Red shrugged. "I don't care. I'll do it."

Leaf groaned. She couldn't leave these two to do things by themselves. They were more than capable as trainers, but she would rather not leave them to their own devices. "Look, if you two are going, I have to come with. That's my rule as the big sister here."

"Dude, you're younger than Red by two years and me by like three. You're definitely not the big sister."

"I was saving your asses at ten years old while your stupid thirteen-year-old ass was getting you two into trouble," Leaf retorted primly. "Also, your parents didn't let you leave town until I was old enough to."

Red nodded seriously. "She has a point. If we're going to do something stupid, we need Leaf there."

"Okay. Well…don't expect any sympathy if you fall behind," Blue replied.

Flying off into the night sky was a Pidgeot, a Charizard, and a Fearow. For whatever reason, the Pokémon seemed to be carrying their Trainers off into a cesspool of trouble and Team Rocket.

Charizard glanced to the other two, who seemed to be just as irritated. "They're literally the biggest, stupidest morons I have ever met," he declared.

"Why do you let your Trainers drag Leaf into this stuff?" Fearow complained.

Pidgeot seemed to scowl at the night sky. "If they die, I am never, EVER letting another male Trainer take control of me. They're literally the stupidest!"

The Pokémon argued off into the night while the Trainers mostly made jokes at Leaf's expense.

* * *

In her watching of the pure-smelling girl, the small pink Pokémon had been lead into an entirely different region. That teleportation of the Pokémon's clone and the vile boy had nearly thrown her off, but she had quickly caught the scent again. How _powerful _that smell was these days! The world was so weak and thin, existing on a plane made up entirely of suffering, and there she was, her aroma so clean and fresh.

She was traveling with a boy now. He smelled not bad, but not good; he smelled of young plants growing in the ashes of a fire. The pure, forgiving earth was there, but the ashes were too thick and clogged her nose. Together, though, they seemed quite comfortable, no matter the circumstances that brought them to travel together. She talked at him about everything, pointing out the moon and stars, odd vendors as they moved through the city that stunk of Rocket filth, and Pokémon that seemed particularly tired.

The girl seemed like a blessing. Perhaps soon she would reveal herself, as she grew tired of waiting and watching. It seemed that not even a boy clogged with ashes could disguise her pure nature.

* * *

_A/N: Hello! I said I would update yesterday, but some old friends came to visit and I was delayed! I know better than to make deadlines that are set in stone by now, so why do I even do that to myself and you guys..._

_Also recently I have been distracted during the mornings by this portrait of Jim Morrison I'm doing for my mom while helping middle school children improve their art. And now onto important things such as this fic:_

_The mysterious pink Pokemon who is very obviously a Pokemon who I will not yet name makes her return! Huzzah! She will soon bother Lyra! Double huzzah!_

_Don't tell me that Leaf isn't younger than Red and Blue but is like 90x more mature. Their parents/guardians wouldn't let the boys leave town unless Leaf was with them to be their adult...although they ended up splitting up because they're "rivals" and left Leaf in limbo. Poor babe._

_Yup. Ariana. I can't ignore the resemblance between her and Silver any longer, but I still refuse to believe that she is his mother. That headcanon is not what I stand for. Thus, she is his aunt. His bitchy, convoluted aunt, but his aunt all the same. Also, Silver wears his hair long and red and doesn't change it because he's honoring his mother. This boy becomes more and more tragic the more I write him. I need to calm that down! ;A;_

_Brendan and Darkrai, a hate pairing. Kismesises, for all the Homestucks out there. Also, smoothies. Darkrai enjoys smoothies. Who doesn't enjoy the occasional fruity, lactose-laden nature of a smoothie?_

_So, I have a few more songs for you to check out that have somewhat inspired this fic or helped me write portions of this story: Across the Universe by Fiona Apple (the bae), Come Together by The Beatles, Lightning Crashes by Live, Butterflies and Hurricanes by Muse, and Volatile Times by IAMX. I swear to God my music taste is just a big joke sometimes._

_Leave a review if you like! I'm enjoying what you guys have to say concerning my fic! Also, I can address concerns if I have confused you with anything and potentially find inspiration from what you're thinking. Until next update, try not to think too heavily on the fact that I get distracted by drawing attractive men who have been dead for 43 years while attempting to write an apocalyptic/dystopian fic._


	13. Reminders

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If we were in a communist society, the government would. **

* * *

Night over Mossdeep City was spectacular; the skies above were filled with vibrant stars that quite literally seemed to twinkle. Steven sat on the roof of his house and enjoyed the solitude; there were currently five people with very large Pokémon using a house that housed maybe two people comfortably. The past days had been spent getting everyone up to speed. With the knowledge that Arceus had abandoned the world, so many things began to make sense. Of course Palkia had been tearing apart space. Of course Rayquaza hadn't been reformed anew. Of course Aether hadn't been blasted off the face of the earth.

God had left them all to finish each other off.

Steven tried not to think about how badly they had fucked up to deserve that, and he instead thought upon other matters.

On the matter of five people living in his home, he was admittedly humorous to observe where people were sleeping in the cramped space. N didn't seem to care much about comfort and oftentimes slept in something of an awkward cuddle puddle with his Zoroark and sometimes with White thrown into the mix. Serena and May shared the couch, although it didn't look particularly comfortable. When White wasn't with N, she slept curled up on top of his kitchen table.

Steven was home so little that he wasn't comfortable sleeping in his own bed, and thus he rarely slept in it and tried to sleep on the couch normally. With five people in his house, that made it impossible to get any restful sleep.

As he gazed up at the beautiful stars, he heard someone scrambling onto the roof to join him. At first he thought it was May. But much to his surprise, it was White. "Damn this stupid thing. How do you get up here so easily?"

"What are you doing up?" Steven asked. "You and Harmonia seemed to be in a cuddle puddle in there."

She laughed bitterly as she clambered up the slanted roof to sit beside him. "He sleeps well at night. I really can't. It's funny; he hears Pokémon talk all the time, and a lot of the wild ones say such terrible things. N is still the one that sleeps better."

They sat quietly for a while. White seemed to marvel at the stars, and in that moment Steven knew why N loved her so much. Though she was filled with tension and a no-nonsense attitude, she looked so at peace with the world when the wind brushed her face and the stars and moon lit her in shades of silver. "How did a girl who hated Plasma so vehemently end up with the King of Plasma?"

"Damned if I know," White replied. She stretched out her hands, looking at the ring glittering on her left ring finger. "I just know I went to find him after about a year of him being gone because I was worried about him. So I searched roughly seven regions, and came back to Unova to hear that he was living in the underground Plasma Castle from some little dude named Nate. So I went to find him there. The minute N saw me, he just took me into his arms and apologized. It was so out of character I thought it was his Zoroark. A few months later, we were dating. A year and a half later, he bought a ring. We said we'd get married in December, but it's mid-June and the world is kind of ending. I don't think that wedding is going to happen in December," she said sadly.

He gazed out into the night. "Why not elope?"

"N is set on having a wedding, apparently because he's 'sick of making things strange'. We set the date back in January, back when it seemed that things were calming down," White replied.

Steven wondered if he would ever have someone like that. He thought about May and her cutting words but supportive smiles. Could he ever love her and care enough to ask her to marry him in the middle of apocalyptic times?

Glancing sidelong at him, White asked, "Do you have somebody?"

"No. When Phoebe of the Elite Four was still in the Elite Four, we went on a few dates, decided we didn't like each other that much, and broke it off. That's about as serious of a relationship I've ever had," he admitted.

White snickered. "Seriously? You're like one of the nicest guys I've met and you can't keep a girlfriend?"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm kind of busy," he replied, unable to keep himself from smirking a little.

She laughed and turned to the stars again. Her voice becoming a bit more somber, she said, "We're all kind of busy, Stone. But if you actually care about someone—anyone, actually—now's the time to make it known. Either the world will end, or Aether is going to kill us when we start making our moves against them." Standing up, she stretched and yawned. "I kind of have an idea about how to harm Aether, but it can wait until morning. Well…it's already morning, I think, but you know what I mean."

"So this is goodnight, then?" Steven asked her.

She nodded. "Yup." She slowly made her way down the roof. Before she hopped onto the ground, she smiled. "Remember what I told you. Even N and I were able to get something started while we were working on the stick suit project and chasing each other around regions." With a lack of grace, she leapt from the roof and landed on the ground. Her pattering footsteps could be heard once more as she returned inside, where the house was muggy from body heat and air-conditioning that seemed reluctant to kick in.

He stared at the stars in the renewed silence. The dawn would strike, lonely and greenish over the sea, spattering the world with light again. _Better admire these things while I can, _Steven decided while resting his chin on his knees. _If White is right about anything, it's that I'm not too busy to enjoy things while they're still here._

* * *

Shaymin was sleeping in the curve of Aurora's stomach, and it wasn't a peaceful sleep. Aurora, making a valiant attempt at sleeping on a couch after a number of assessments, tried to ignore the trickle of nightmare coming into her brain; nonetheless, it was a little like trying to ignore an inappropriate preteen boy making inappropriate comments for his age—absolutely futile.

She focused on this trickle, and it expanded into a gushing river, flooding her brain with images that were not her own.

_The scientists had her in a cage. She was small and helpless; night took away her wing-like ears and her strength. These men jabbed needles into her, and she cried out. What good did crying do? There were four other Legendaries trapped in cages in this lab, too—Darkrai, Keldeo, a Latios, and Terrakion. These needles made her exhausted, and she fought that exhaustion, spewing explosive seeds at the scientists. It was their turn to cry out in pain and anger. Before she could gloat her victory, consciousness slipped from her grasp and she collapsed into nothingness._

_When she awoke, something was wrong with her brain. Never before had it seemed confined or orderly, but it was confused and stretched in a thousand different directions. It sought something out, though she didn't know what it wanted. It made her head throb—her neck was sore, too. _

_Nearby was Darkrai, who seemed to be experiencing the same thing. _Shaymin, _he said, his voice trembling, _they put these chips in our necks.

Chips? _Shaymin scrambled to her feet and craned her neck around—her longer neck, since she was now in her Sky Forme, and tried futilely to get a look. _What is the purpose of these things?

_Darkrai took a minute to respond. _They were talking. I wasn't completely out of it when they put it in, and they said it's to make us accept a bond with a human being. What we're searching for is a strong human mind.

_Shaymin recoiled. _No. I do not want that. They burn my fields, kill or displace my brethren, and now they want me to work for some human?

_Clapping his spectral hands to his face, Darkrai gave a nod. _They're looking at potential recruits for it right now. _He cringed and added, _I can't believe how badly my head hurts. I suppose it would stop if I just connected with a person, but I don't want that.

Aurora detached herself from the dream, shucking it off like a sweatshirt that had grown clammy with a cold sweat. Reality barreled into her like a freight train thrown from its tracks, and she pressed her hands to her neck, breathing deeply. The relationship between herself and Shaymin was essentially forced. She had known that it was to some extent, but Shaymin accepting her bond had most likely been a measure to stave off gratuitous amounts of migraines and other headaches.

Aurora sat up and drew herself into a ball. She had gotten involved in a cruel process; soon, she needed a way out for her own sake and, more importantly, for Shaymin's. "I'm sorry," she whispered to the Pokémon, although she was too deep in the dream to notice. "I had no idea."

Shaymin slept on, and Aurora allowed herself to cry for what had been done to the Pokémon.

* * *

The Team Rocket grunt with the Arbok had been on quite the streak this evening. He had defeated eight opponents in a row, only stopping to give his Pokémon a Hyper Potion between the fifth and sixth battles, and simply destroyed anyone who tried to defeat him. "Try again next time, you loser!" He shouted after the receding figure of a young man whose Scyther had fallen to Arbok.

"Who's next?" he called out to the circle of spectators, laughing with abandon. "Who is gonna try and take down this beast?"

"Try a Gym Leader on for size!" The crowd parted nervously to the sight of Blue Oak, the eighth Gym Leader of the Kanto Region. "How many Pokémon do you have? Just to be fair, I'll use one less than you've got if you have more than one."

Irritably, the Rocket Grunt snapped, "Don't be such a condescending dickwad to everyone! There isn't a lick of respect for you in this city!"

"Then why are they all looking at me like I'm a god?" Blue retorted with a smirk. "How many Pokémon do you have?"

"Three," he answered. He hadn't even needed to use his other two—a Houndoom and a Magneton—that evening. "So, pick two if you want, but you're going to lose."

"Very funny," Blue replied with a smirk. "Arcanine, you're up, buddy!" He tossed a Pokeball and a massive, orange, cream and black canine appeared, eyeing the Rocket Grunt's Arbok with an almost bored expression.

The Rocket grunt did his best to not look fearful. He had heard terrifying stories of this Arcanine; he was not a Pokémon to be trifled with. "Well, we'll still beat you!"

He was utterly wrong. Where the grunt was one of the more powerful grunts of Team Rocket, he found himself sweating quickly. Arcanine was brutal; his fire attacks were more than Arbok could take. When Arbok's HP hit zero, he sent out Houndoom in the hopes that the Pokémon's resistance to fire moves would prove helpful. It did for a while, but Arcanine's ExtremeSpeed and Thunder Fang attacks were also too much.

He was left with Golbat, who also fell to Arcanine.

"What the hell?" The grunt moaned.

"What do you mean 'what the hell'? I was once the Champion of the Kanto Pokémon League. I'm now the eighth Gym Leader. Did you really think you were going to beat me?" Blue asked. A chorus of "oohs!" went up through the crowd. "Now if you don't mind…we're going to fuck shit up."

Chaos broke loose. A man on a Charizard flew in, spewing fire at a line of grunts hanging out in the street. "What—" The grunt didn't even finish his thought. He ran for cover in the Pokémon Center.

Meanwhile, Blue and Red were indeed doing exactly what Blue said they were going to do. The Rockets, who had so narrowly avoided getting crisped by Charizard's flames, sent out a plethora of Pokémon to deal with the problem.

"Just like old times!" Blue cried, sending out Pidgeot to assist Red in defeating the Pokémon.

Red glowered at him. "You barely fought Team Rocket!" He then ordered Charizard to use Air Slash on a line of Gloom.

"Hey, it was still fun," Blue snapped. Arcanine and Pidgeot decimated groups of Pokémon before scaring off their trainers. "Let me have my memories, you jerk-ass!"

Near Misty's gym, Leaf sat on Onix's head with a sigh. Nearby, a pair of grunts approached with a devious look in their eyes. She really hadn't wanted to fight unless necessary. "Use a localized Earthquake. I'm not willing to fight."

Onix sent a ripple through the earth, knocking the grunts onto their butts. One got the message and took off once the shaking subsided. The other shouted, "You bitch! What was that about?!"

"Please don't mess with me. I don't like causing trouble," Leaf replied.

"It's a bit late for that, girly!" The grunt sent out a trio of Golbat. "You're going down!"

Leaf rolled her eyes. In the near distance, smoke curled and there was a lot of shouting. Red and Blue had caused plenty of trouble as it was. She sent out her Fearow and Jolteon, simply replying, "If you haven't noticed, Team Rocket is going down in this city."

The night was ablaze with flames and fighting in Cerulean City.

* * *

"Corona? We're getting reports of an attack on Cerulean City in Kanto. That's where some of our major recruits and weaponization scientists come from."

Corona groaned loudly, looking up from the reports she had received on Aurora and Shaymin's mental health after the connection. Cruz stood there, with _her _Latios tailing her and _her _Emolga perched on her shoulder. "Are you kidding me, girl?" Corona growled. Approaching the other _woman, _she retorted, "Do we need to send people over there?"

"Supposedly it is the Kantonese Champion, a Gym Leader, and an unnamed girl with powerful Pokémon causing trouble there," Cruz replied, _her _eyes flickering with irritation at Corona's blatant and pointed disrespect. "If Aurora and Shaymin are okay, you may want to send them."

Corona thought for a moment. The weaponization program so far had proved to be a bust. Team Rocket's first prototype, Mewtwo, and the human boy they took genetics from, were running free elsewhere, seemingly not beholden to anyone. Brendan and Darkrai barely got along during the best of times. John West was suffering from a compound fracture and was not bound to Keldeo. That left Aurora and Shaymin, and then Cruz and _her _Latios. Two snarky _girls _and their none-too-powerful Legendaries weren't going to cause much harm. "I say we don't help them, _sister dearest. _We haven't punished Giovanni thoroughly enough for not training that son of his and that Mewtwo. It's been how many years and he still hasn't brought Silver back. Likewise, they're holding the three Legendary birds from us."

Cruz's eyes flashed. "I'm not your sister. I'm your sibling. Try again," Cruz retorted harshly. _She _swept from the room, slamming the door behind her.

Corona sighed loudly. Team Rocket hadn't done much for them lately, anyway. Maybe a number of Aether recruits came from Cerulean City, but what did it matter? As of now, there was nothing they could do against powerful trainers like Red, Blue, and some unnamed female working with them. Supposedly, Red had never lost a battle. Since Blue opened his Gym, only ten people had earned badges from him out of countless challengers.

Cerulean City would simply have to suffer for the time being. Perhaps when Brendan and Darkrai had a healthier relationship and some other Legendaries were partnered to worthwhile recruits, they could easily take out Red, Blue, and other allies. For the time being, it wasn't likely to happen.

Corona looked at the door where Cruz went out. "You know, Cruz, if our parents were still alive, they'd hate you for pretending you have no gender." She fluffed her hair with her fingers and exited the room herself, taking the information she had just earned and bringing it to the leader.

* * *

Lyra and Silver had returned to the penthouse apartment. They were both exceptionally tired and in deep thought—where were the Legendary birds at? Speaking little, Lyra entered the bathroom to shower, and Silver went to peel out of his stick suit.

He found Mewtwo sleeping on his bed. The Pokémon rarely slept, so he decided not to disturb him. A well-rested Mewtwo wasn't nearly as sassy as a tired one. After taking off his stick suit, Silver changed into sweatpants and a black long-sleeved tee. His hair was still damp from his dive off the bridge, but he tied it off his neck with a rubber band sitting on top of his dresser.

He wondered if Lyra was all right. She'd been relatively quiet after they'd left the limits of Cerulean City. To say she was relatively quiet meant she talked maybe as much as a normal person, but that was her version of quiet. Silver hoped that she was just tired; they certainly had run around quite a bit that day.

He left his room and released Sneasel and Croconaw. The two immediately began bickering, which Silver immediately attempted to tune out. Though Sneasel was his long-time friend, he sometimes despised the Pokémon for picking as many fights as he did. Silver wasn't kind or gentle or anything like that, but Sneasel made his bad attitude look good. "Quit fighting, you two," he muttered as he moved to the kitchen. "You sound like old women."

"Wow. No swearing at us? Or anything?" Sneasel asked.

"Nope. Not in the mood," Silver replied.

Croconaw and Sneasel exchanged glances. Quietly, Croconaw asked, "Is it because of that girl?"

Silver sighed. "Yeah. It is. I'm not gonna lie—that girl's really messing with my head."

"Well I like it like this!" Croconaw exclaimed, flashing a toothy grin. "She makes you not as mean!"

Silver grabbed a mug from the cabinet, filled it with water, and stuck it in the microwave. It seemed like a good night for tea; it was all of the food he had left inside the apartment from a few cans of ravioli and a half-eaten box of root beer flavored popsicles in the freezer. There was also a large tub of Pokémon food in the hallway closet. Being gone for a month didn't really leave any edible food.

On the second thought, he grabbed a second one and filled it with water before putting it in. Lyra might want some. "I don't know, guys," he admitted. "She's messing with my head."

"Letting some stupid person with breasts get to you isn't gonna get you far, Silver," Sneasel commented. "Don't let her get in the way of your plans."

"I'm not going to!" Silver snapped. "She's helpful. It's just…weird."

A few minutes passed in silence. With the water finally heated properly, he pulled it out of the microwave and stuck the tea bags in. His stomach growled, but he wasn't hungry for a popsicle or ravioli. Tomorrow he would have to buy food. He heard the shower shut off in the bathroom; it seemed that Lyra would be out soon.

"So, we know that the birds are still here in the Kanto, right?" Sneasel asked.

Silver nodded silently. Elaborating on his question, Sneasel added, "Do we know where?"

"I have no idea. I thought I searched every base," Silver admitted. "Those assholes have a secret hiding place of some sort, and I need to figure out where."

Copper and Lumi darted into the kitchen, followed by Speckle toddling behind them. "Hey! Wait up!" she squeaked at the two larger Pokémon. Lyra was soon to follow, dressed in a red tank top and gray sweatpants. Silver couldn't help but take a close look at her without a stick suit on; her skin was pale but certainly not flawless. Her arms were sparingly dappled with brown moles and freckles, and a light, dappled burn scar marked the area just below her right collar bone.

Lyra was looking a little rough. She stumped over to the nearest stool at the counter and dragged herself onto it. "Hey. What's going on?" Silver asked her.

"Earlier tonight, some lady threatened to shoot us, set a bunch of Noivern on us, and then I had to jump off a bridge while being unable to swim. I have never before in my life had to do any of that." She folded her arms and rested her head on them. "I'm not very brave normally. That took a lot out of me."

Silver nudged a mug of tea toward her. Lyra looked up at the sound of the ceramic scraping across the granite countertop, and she accepted it with an exhausted smile. "Thanks." Almost immediately, she tugged the mug under her nose and inhaled deeply. "That's quality tea," she commented.

"I'm kind of used to quality, unfortunately," Silver muttered to himself.

Speckle approached Lyra on the floor. Setting her foot down, she let the baby Pokémon clamber onto it and she pulled her up until she could clamber on her Trainer's lap. "I'm not used to quality. Even when my father was still around and we had money, he was pretty frugal. He put all of his money into savings."

"Giovanni is nothing like that," Silver replied with a bitter laugh. "He wasted money on so much shit. So now I go to grocery stores and see stuff like instant ramen and scoff at it, but it'd probably save me money."

Lyra didn't respond for a while. She let the Togepi sip at her tea, who quickly became disgusted with it. Soon after, she wanted to go back down onto the floor to play with the other Pokémon. It was then that Lyra asked, "Are you sure you're not going to hug me?"

With her sleepy, hopeful eyes and that stupid, shit-eating grin she gave him, he wanted to do more than just hug her. Lyra didn't need to know that, though. "Arceus, Lyra! You're still hung up on that stupid crap I said?" he asked in exasperation.

She nodded. "Yup. Of course."

Silver glanced over the counter at his Pokémon. Much to his surprise, Sneasel was talking very kindly to Speckle. Croconaw and Copper were attempting to pounce on Lumi's tail, but she was having none of that from them. They weren't paying attention to him, so maybe he could get away with doing it. No one had to know.

He stupid up and reluctantly wrapped his arms around Lyra where she sat. "Okay. Yay. Hug. Can I get off this ride now?"

Lyra shook her head and linked her arms loosely around his waist, resting her forehead against his chest. "You smell good," she mumbled. She pressed in closer; her chest was now pressed against his lower rib.

"Holy shit," he whispered, blushing profusely. For the second time recently, he felt her breasts jammed against him. He couldn't take that. Silver tore himself from her grip and eyed her with a scowl. "That's too much hugging."

She blushed and smiled awkwardly. "Sorry. I just…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "Never mind. Where can I sleep tonight?"

His head reeled at how swiftly she flitted through topics. What was she going to say, and where could she sleep tonight? "Uh…" He came to the realization that Mewtwo was in his bed, limiting the sleeping space to either the uncomfortable couches in the living room or the full-sized mattress stashed in the extra bedroom. "There's a mattress in the back bedroom. I'll take the couch."

Lyra gazed into the living room with a rumpled-up nose. "Those are nasty couches. You'll hurt your back. Why can't you sleep in your own bed?"

"Mewtwo is in it," he admitted. "I'm not too keen on waking up to him throwing me into a wall with Psychic energy because I've startled him."

"We could share the mattress," she mused.

Silver lifted his eyes to the ceiling, as if it would give him some answers as to how this girl thought. He slowly replied, "No way in hell, Lyra."

"I promise I'll stay on my side!" she exclaimed. Tugging at his shirt sleeve, she added, "My Pokémon can even stay out as a buffer. I just don't want you to hurt yourself sleeping on one of those couches. I don't know what you were thinking when you bought those, but those will give you a nasty neck or back problem."

Silver groaned. "Fine. But the minute you're on my side of the mattress, I'm sleeping on the couch. No exceptions."

"Okay!" She smiled at him and took another sip of tea.

It was close to half past three in the morning before either of them went to bed. Silver was hyperaware of Lyra being no more than three feet away from him, with Speckle sleeping peacefully in her arms, Copper laying on her belly, and Lumi snuggling in beneath her arm. "Arceus damn it," he hissed, and he rolled over on his side to avoid her. He shut his eyes and willed sleep to come. When it finally approached, he hoped that he wouldn't end up rolling over onto her side of the bed while he slept.

* * *

It had been difficult for the small pink Pokémon to enter the tall apartment building. Aside from the first eight floors, very few windows were open on this structure. It had taken an hour to navigate the building. Only the faintest aroma of the girl's purity could be found in these halls; she assumed that she had been teleported most recently by her clone's powers.

Nonetheless, the small pink Pokémon was intelligent and found her way to the penthouse. Her ability to transform came in handy; she slid under doors like liquid and turned into a human when a late night ambler came within sight. Soon, she found herself at the elevator leading to the small sitting room outside of the penthouse apartment. Turning to a liquid state once more, she oozed under the door. The apartment was silent and dark. Everyone had gone to bed. She floated through the place, sniffing at mugs in the sink and a shimmery gray stick suit laying on the floor of the bathroom. That was the girl's.

The Pokémon finally caught the strongest aroma of the girl she had encountered yet and drifted to a back room. In the grayish darkness lay the girl, in a puddle of her own Pokémon, and the redhead, who seemed to be absolutely keen on laying on the absolute edge of the mattress. She ignored him and approached the girl. In her sleep, she was so peaceful and gentle-looking, like an angel. The small pink Pokémon settled herself next to the girl's face and wrapped her tail gently around her left arm. Whenever the girl woke up, the Pokémon's presence would now be revealed.

It was about time, too.

* * *

_A/N: Hello, hello! Here's to the thirteenth chapter of A Sign of The Times. This is an unlucky number...*gasp*_

_So, before I get ahead of myself. I got a review. From a guest reviewer. And they wanted to know what Orre and Almia are. Now, if they hadn't been guest reviewers, I could've told them via PM, but now you're all getting an edumacation on the Orre region especially since that's my baby and I only threw Almia in there at the request of an amiga. The Orre region is a glorious region in which the spin-off games Pokemon Colosseum and Gale of Darkness take place. This is a desert region where basically everyone is a criminal and you save these Pokemon from their closed hearts (that make them very evil and have scary moves) by Snagging (stealing) them from their Trainers and purifying them. The villains are colorful as hell and basically anything taken out of context in this game is amazingly humorous. Also. Please look up Miror B. Pretty please. _

_Almia is the region some of the Pokemon Ranger games took place. I personally like the original best (Fiore 5ever). I don't really know much about it other than that. I think Darkrai messes stuff up there in one of the games. Idk._

_So Red, Blue, and Leaf should get a spinoff series called "F***in' Shit Up with The Pallet Town Trio" in which they just go into evil-infested places and just wreak havoc. It'd be grand. Also, at the end of every episode they have to give some advice that seems deep but really isn't._

_Yep, Cruz and Corona are siblings. Corona does not respect Cruz's life choices. Cruz will one day seek their revenge. _

_A little more insight on weaponization has been provided: there is a chip that makes their minds seek things in uncomfortable ways. The humans don't have this, but due to the nature of the bond with the Pokemon, it seems that they have to listen to one another no matter what. Brendan and Darkrai will probably have some trouble with this in chapters to come._

_The next update might be a little slower than this. I'm being forced to do some major cleaning tomorrow because God forbid I be comfortable with a slightly cluttered room, and on Tuesday I might be shopping with friends for a large chunk of time in the name of senior pictures x_x Please avenge my death if I die during that process._

_So, leave a review! Favorite this story! I love it when you guys do that. Also, thanks (as always) for reading the latest updates._

_Until next time, stay hydrated._


	14. Sunrise

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I don't own anything. I have not owned anything for hundreds of years. I think I might be AZ. Send help.**

* * *

High above the Sinnoh region sat Spear Pillar, a bleak, dilapidated set of ruins overlooking the lively green world below. No human had set foot on the peak since before the invention of the printing press. Though no one lived there, a few Pokémon were known to pop their head into the world through the very thin barrier between reality and alternate dimensions there. In fact, it was from where Palkia liked to wreak havoc with his powerful spatial rends.

Well, it wasn't so much that he liked to cause trouble. Palkia was enraged and filled with grief. His father had abandoned the world. He had closed himself off in the Hall of Origin and disappeared into some strange pocket of space that not even Palkia could enter without sustaining harm. Part of him prayed that Arceus would return if Palkia tore enough of the world apart. His father loved his creation dearly; surely he would come rescue it.

So far, he hadn't.

Palkia narrowed his eyes at the world of humans below—humans who had killed and enslaved a myriad of his brethren—and roared loudly. Space began to ripple and contort. He could only imagine the fear and horror running through their minds, even though they had scrounged up ways to protect themselves from his attacks.

_Palkia! Shut this nonsense down at once! _The Spatial Pokémon turned to see his sister, Dialga. She eyed him with a different sort of anger in her eyes, the sort that didn't burn like rage or corrode like a grudge. _Father does not care if you tear apart his creation. He is immersed in an apathy so deep and dark that not even the sunlight could cut through it. _

_I hate to admit it, but she's right. _The third voice belonged to none other than Giratina, the third member of the Creation Trio. Free of the Distortion World, he had grown sturdy legs and his tentacles had converted themselves into ragged wings.

It had been the first time in centuries all three siblings had been together. Palkia gazed upon them with a scowl. _So what is this? An intervention?_

Dialga approached her brother carefully, taking slow steps forward as if trying not to set off a minefield. Cautiously, she replied, _Palkia, should you keep going with this, we will no longer have anywhere to live. If you tear apart space, time will fall with it. If time falls, Giratina's realm will collapse. Not even the Hall of Origin will remain standing._

Palkia growled low in his throat. _Why should I care about any of this? This world is falling to pieces anyway. Arceus doesn't care about us. Maybe it's better that I just tear it apart._

Giratina rolled his eyes. _You're such a drama queen. Give Father some time, why don't you? He's gotten apathetic before. Remember when I killed so many Pokémon and people? He ignored us all for at least a century. I mean, he only ignored us, but I'm trying to say that it's happened before._

Dialga gazed at him strangely for a moment before looking at Palkia once more. In a gentler voice, she requested, _Stop doing this._

Palkia growled. _For now, I will. _He stepped away from the edge of Spear Pillar and opened a rift to his home in space. _I'm not going to guarantee that I won't stop. _

After he disappeared into space, Dialga groaned loudly, hanging her head in defeat. _He is so begrudging. _She balefully eyed Giratina, who stood awkwardly at a distance from his sister. _Why is it that father made both of you so angry?_

Giratina flapped his wings, batting away a few snow flurries. He simply replied, _Damned if I know. Maybe I killed some people and Pokémon in a fit of rage, but I think he might have surpassed that._

Dialga turned and started to form her rift to enter time. She paused and met her brother's crimson eyes; she couldn't help but wonder how she was the only one of her siblings to not cause harm. After a heavy pause, she quietly said, _You are both utterly disgraceful. _Without waiting for a reply, she entered the rift and left an injured world and affronted brother behind. Perhaps Arceus wasn't wrong to abandon such a cruel place after all.

* * *

The sun rose over Cerulean City, and it then likely wanted to set on it again.

The air smelled of soot. Many buildings affiliated with Team Rocket had been blown to smithereens. No one had died, but the city certainly seemed like a perilous graveyard.

Red watched the ashes swirl from the foothills of Mt. Moon and had to swallow a lump in his throat. Though it had been gratifying last night to obliterate Team Rocket buildings and defeat their Pokémon, it was painful to see a city he had once been so fond of literally go up in smoke.

"Doesn't feel so good now, does it?" Leaf had been so quiet that he had almost forgotten that she was there. The destruction seemed to be reflected in her glazed-over brown eyes. "You and Blue are stupid."

Red sat in silence, letting Leaf berate him. Blue was crashed out on a boulder nearby, snuggled deeply into his Arcanine's fluffy body. He assumed that Leaf had a bone to pick with him, too. In retrospect, Red knew it had been stupid to use Fire Pokémon to attack the city. Charizard and Arcanine had caused more damage than was necessary.

He glanced toward Leaf, who was still criticizing him, and he simply said, "I know. It can't be undone. We can't un-burn the houses. We can't un-make the decisions we made. So let it be. It's not going to happen again."

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and propped her customary white hat on her head, angling the brim down to avoid getting hit in the eye with bright sun. "Don't let it."

Red sighed, scratching at his jaw. He angled his own hat's cap against the sun and sat in silence once more. Years ago, he had sat in silence for weeks at a time, yet now, it seemed so futile and useless to remain so quiet.

* * *

Surprisingly, Brendan had not been punished for attacking Aether grunts. If anything, he seemed to be applauded by many of the administrators for being a "good strategist", a "quick thinker", and even a "fantastic protector". Brendan was horrified by the usage of their terms. He let it slide, though; he was just pleased to be safe from whatever wrath he had perceived to be coming his way.

He and Darkrai sat awkwardly in a large training room, waiting for both Aurora and Cruz to appear with their bonded Legendaries. "So," Brendan stated, letting the world hang uncomfortably in the air.

_So, _Darkrai replied.

"Uh…do you….have hobbies?" Brendan asked.

Darkrai blasted him with a Dark Pulse.

When Cruz entered the room with Latios trailing behind, they eyed Brendan and Darkrai with apparent amusement. "You two are clearly not the best of friends yet," the administrator commented with a goofy smile.

Brendan flipped Cruz the middle finger from the floor, which made them laugh out loud.

In a nearby room, Corona observed the interactions with a long sigh. "This weaponization program is such a fucking bust," she muttered to herself.

Her words seemed to have been spoken too soon. Aurora entered the room with Shaymin. The young recruit had terrible bed head, and there were dark rings under her eyes to rival a Pangoro's. She questioned, "What's going on?"

_Brett is incompetent, _Latios responded, rolling his eyes.

She clapped her hands to her mouth and loudly roared, "Oh my Arceus! No way! I never would have guessed!"

Brendan quite kindly showed her his middle finger as well, bringing Cruz into near hysterics while Aurora automatically mirrored his gesture. Corona banged her head on the table. "This is honestly the best we can do?!" she demanded to thin air. Hopping off her chair, she swept off to better places. Her job be damned if she didn't feel like putting up with utter morons this early in the morning.

* * *

Steven's house was loud. Five young adults were too much, too loud…just too much.

N couldn't think. He hated that. His mind was constantly going, but now he could hear almost nothing of what was going through it. Serena and May—the two girls who seemed to have become very close friends very quickly—had seemed to hit it off quite well with Zoroark. The Pokémon was happily allowing them to comb his mane. Needless to say, N was not used to his friend enjoying human company. Steven had made some sort of call on his PokeNav to someone named "Phoebe" and it didn't seem to be going well.

White was quiet, but her presence was loud and dominating as always. She sat on the kitchen table, cross-legged, while scribbling things onto a scrap of paper. The ring on her finger glinted brightly in the morning sun, and it made N smile a little. She was so rough on her belongings; all of her Pokémon had needed to have their Pokeballs replaced two or three times since he'd met her, and she rarely owned clothing for more than a year. Yet, with that ring, she cleaned it meticulously and protected it at all cost.

"Phoebe, please listen to me," Steven pleaded, but it seemed that the mysterious "Phoebe" had already hung up.

Steven dragged his hand across his forehead and closed his eyes. To N, it seemed as though he was experiencing a great deal of tension. However, his attentions were taken from Steven as White shouted a loud "Aha!" The action ceased in the house as White hopped off the table, waving her scraps around. "I have an idea! I know how we'll get Aether!"

"What is this plan?" Serena asked, abandoning Zoroark's mane. "It does not involve Yveltal and me casting a spell of death, _oui_? I am not willing to do that to rescue my friend…and also my grandmother."

May glanced at her oddly. "You never mentioned your grandma was with them, too."

"My grandmother Iva wanted to keep an eye on Calem. He does not do well separated from Xerneas," she explained.

Steven looked to White. His expression was deeply bleak still, but his voice was very kind and receptive as he asked her, "Well, are you going to tell us?"

She rifled through her scraps and smiled. "We're going to lure some of their most powerful administrators out. Steven, you were talking about knowing where Kyogre and Groudon are cryogenically frozen. What we should do is get a message out to them, telling them we've come across the two Pokémon's hiding places. Except we don't tell them the actual hiding places—we just give them something that sounds legitimate. Then we set up an ambush and BAM! We get them good!" she finished with a bright grin. "They took Terrakion and Keldeo from the Unova region, so I know for a fact they're looking for powerful Legendaries. It'll be perfect."

"How do we convince them it's worth looking into?" N questioned.

White grinned. "Well, first we need to get ourselves the identity of a respectable member of Aether."

"Dammit. I guess Brendan's out. He's only been there like two weeks. He wouldn't become respectable that quickly," May grumbled.

"Besides, we have no idea what name he went under. Sending one as Recruit Brendan Fuertes seem a little counterproductive," Steven added.

Serena shrugged. "We could hack their databases and find out who their administrators are. There are ones that do not work at their headquarters, obviously."

N raised his hand. "I can do that. But I need a good computer."

"Perfect. I've got one you could use. Then…we need to figure out two good locations that seem feasible," May replied with a smile. She approached White and gave her a loud, ringing high five. "Nice thinking, White."

White gave her a fierce nod, flipping her long, dark ponytail as she moved her head. "Damned straight, Birch."

"In the meantime," Steven called over them, "we should do some training while we let N do his hacking. We're all probably a little rusty after _being cramped in my house like this."_

May scoffed at him before replying, "Cool it, Stone. We get the message. We'll go train a while." She dug into her bag nearby and withdrew with a very modern—almost futuristic—looking laptop and handed it to N. "Don't worry too much about being careful with it. I don't really use it anymore."

He opened the device, powered it on, and then shrugged. "It still may come in handy later."

Everyone, including Steven and N's Zoroark, began filtering from his house. White lingered for a moment, crouching in front of N. "Will you be okay on your own?" she asked him.

N was already typing lines and lines of code. His knowledge of math, numbers, and other codes had given him the ability to learn the process of "hacking" quite quickly. "It'll be fine. I'm among numbers."

"You do love your numbers," White replied wryly. She brushed his bangs aside and kissed his forehead. "I'll make sure Zoroark behaves. May and Serena might teach him bad habits."

"Arceus forbid," he mumbled, and then realized the error of his ways. He ground his palm against his forehead, growling. "As if Arceus forbids anythinganymore."

White shrugged. "Atheists constantly say things like that even though they never believed in Arceus to begin with. Don't think too deeply on it." She stood, adjusted her stick suit, and waved to N before going.

He sighed deeply after she left. The lines of code made no sense to him for a second, fogging his brain. Shaking his head blearily, the numbers and letters once again made sense, and he went back to typing his code. In under an hour, he could easily have a list of names. It was time to stop goofing off. Aether needed to be stopped, and through his contribution, a great deal of damage could be done to the hideously evil organization.

His fingers flew. His mind raced. Information would be found, whether Aether liked it or not.

* * *

"What the hell happened to Cerulean City?!"

Kris had been very kindly bringing Misty home after a night spent comforting the poor girl. Underneath her snarky, stubborn exterior, she proved to be a very sweet girl who disguised her anxiety and insecurities with her callous attitude. They had talked quite a bit about family, friends, Pokémon, and even boys as they moved through Mt. Moon. Kris found herself talking about Lyra with frequency. Yet, the minute they stepped out of Mt. Moon, a giant curl of smoke could be seen coming from Misty's hometown in the distance.

Misty took off in that direction, and Kris followed quickly. "Y'know," she said, easily meeting the smaller girl's stride with her long legs, "now would be an excellent time to regain your Starmie. If there's something chaotic going on down there, chances are they forgot all about your Pokémon."

"Whoa, Misty, is that you?" The girls were halted in their footsteps by the presence of another Kanto Gym Leader: Blue Oak. Kris recognized him from his years of research work that oftentimes brought him into Newbark Town. A lot of girls—her younger foster sisters in particular—thought he was attractive, but all Kris could see in him was an egocentric prick.

Misty pointed angrily toward Cerulean City. "I'd love to stay and talk, but my city is up in flames!" she called up at him angrily.

He threw up his hands defensively. "Well, okay. Sorry about that, by the way. Red, Leaf, and I picked a fight with some Rockets."

"You jackass!" Misty took off at top speed for town.

Kris gave the dumbfounded Gym Leader a sarcastic salute. "It was good to see you again, Blue." She darted off after Misty.

They approached the city quickly and found it to be fairly empty. Misty glared around, squinting against plumes of smoke. "Did they scare everyone off?!" she hissed against the smoke.

Kris released her Noctowl. "Clear the air, please," she requested. Her Pokémon obliged, batting his wings to ward off coiling tendrils of smoke.

"Noct?" _What is this?_ Noctowl questioned as they gingerly made their way through the burned city.

"Kantonese people are dumbasses," Kris explained. When Noctowl still gazed at her quizzically, she elaborated, "This is all Blue Oak's fault."

"Owl!" _That beef-witted apple-john! _Noctowl exclaimed.

Kris scanned around. "So. Where do they keep your Starmie at?"

"The house on the eastern edge of town," Misty replied. "There's a door leading out the east-bound route to the Power Plant. We have to go there now."

Kris followed Misty through town. A few Rocket grunts were about, but Kris warded them off with warning shots of Air Slash from Noctowl, who seemed to be enjoying himself. He'd never been fond of Team Rocket, especially after their revival in the Johto when Kris was on her journey a few years ago. "I swear to Arceus I will destroy them if they hurt Starmie. Or if Starmie burned…in the fires…" Misty shook herself. "I can't think that."

"That's right. Don't think that. Pokeballs are formidable; it'd take a little more than some wimpy house fire to harm one," Kris reassured Misty, knocking her arm kindly.

Misty nodded, biting her lower lip. "Yeah. You're right. We're getting my baby back!" With renewed vigor, she took off at a brisk pace. For the third time, Kris had to speed up to catch up with the Gym Leader. This time, though, Kris knew that her determination would stay. There was a fire in Misty's eyes that mirrored the flames that had clearly licked through the still-smoking city.

That Starmie was going to come home, no matter what anyone else said.

* * *

Silver's eyes flickered open, and the other side of the mattress was empty. Blearily, he felt it, to see if it was still warm—it was not. That brought a frown to his features almost immediately; where had Lyra gone?

He rolled out of bed, shoving overgrown hair from his eyes. It was just past sunrise; red light was cast all around the room through the window—so then where was Lyra? They hadn't gone to bed until close to two in the morning last night. The lack of sleep blurred his vision, and he rubbed at his eyes.

Silver exited the room and groggily called, "Lyra?"

"Silver, you are _so _not going to believe this," Lyra replied from what sounded like the living room. Her voice was filled with excitement and wonder.

_This had better be good. It's barely six in the morning, _Silver decided testily. He stumbled through the hallway until he came to the living room. Lyra sat with her back to him on a couch, while Mewtwo was crouched nearby. The expression on his face was a curious mixture of admiration and…jealousy?

Mewtwo had never been jealous of anything in his life. Silver warily edged around the couch, not certain that he was prepared to see something unbelievable this early in the day.

He came to a stop just in front of Lyra. At first, he couldn't understand what her excitement was about. Her Pokémon were in a flock around her, cooing and babbling at something on Lyra's lap. It looked like a round pink pillow, covered in some velvety fabric. "What? You found some girly pillow in my apartment?" Silver demanded. His initial worry had subsided into irritation. "That's great. I'm going back to bed. See ya."

"That's not a pillow, you fool," Mewtwo grumbled. "Look a little closer."

He paused and gazed down at the pink thing. Lyra nudged it gently, and suddenly the round pink object had a tail. A long, slender tail that developed a pod shape at the end. Two long hind legs. A feline head. Eyes opened on this head to show two liquid blue eyes, blinking curiously at Silver.

"What…" Silver's legs grew weak. "What is a Mew doing in here?"

Lyra watched as Mew floated up, dangling her long tail for Speckle to bat at. After a long moment, she replied, "She wants to help us. Well, me, technically, but I'm working with you, so it kind of becomes us. In fact, I think she knows where the birds are at."

Silver lowered himself to the floor to keep from falling. "Where?" he interrogated Mew.

Lyra warned him, "She doesn't talk in words to anyone but me. If you ask her a question you get your answer in—"

Silver's eyes suddenly seemed to be taken over by imagery. Colors flashed wildly past his eyes; he remembered having a seizure due to experiments conducted on him as a child, and it wasn't unlike that. The colors gave way to images. A dizzying sensation of flight overtook Silver, and he flew along an unfamiliar path. It was rugged and filled with large Pokémon like Ursaring, Donphan, and Rapidash. His eyes were directed upward, and he suddenly saw something he was somewhat familiar with. Mt. Silver, his namesake, loomed up ahead. His eyes were brought downward again and he saw Rocket grunts marching along the path, calling to each other.

Just like that, the chain of images was broken, and Silver was left to regain his bearings.

"What is that mountain? Do you have any idea?" Lyra asked.

"Mt. Silver," he replied, closing his eyes and forcing down the vertigo. "How…how recently did she see this? Red is there."

"She told me that it was about eighteen hours ago. The Champion Red hasn't been seen up there for a while," Lyra replied. Mew floated back to her arms, and she accepted the Pokémon's presence. "He was actually reported to have burnt down some Rocket buildings in Cerulean City just after we left."

Silver's head reeled from both the information and the strange visions that had taken over his head. Lyra chuckled nervously. "Are you okay, Silver?" She stood up, and Mew floated beside her, nuzzling her cheek affectionately. "You look a little ill."

Silver started to reply that she was, but Lyra grabbed a black blanket from the back of the couch and tossed it over his bare shoulders. "Warm up a bit. You look shaky."

"Uh…thanks," Silver settled on saying.

She smiled. "That's the first time you've said that to me."

"Don't count on it being a regular thing," Silver mumbled, dragging his blanket around himself.

Lyra smiled and slung Copper across her shoulders. She gathered Speckle and Lumi into her arms. "I'll make some of that tea. You look like you need it."

"Don't act like a mother," he chided. "And why are you always carrying your Pokémon around? How are they ever going to get strong like that?"

"My affection gives them strength until we train seriously," she replied with a strange, chilly smile. Silver decided not to press her on it and flopped onto the floor, covering his head with a blanket. He had a serious headache.

Nearby, Mewtwo quietly said, "It's strange. My progenitor is here…and we are nothing alike."

"Too much of bitchy old me. Not enough of cute little her," Silver grumbled.

Mewtwo seemed to contemplate this for a moment. "Technically I am 96% her and 4% you, if we round, so apparently we needed less of you."

Silver ignored the comment and rolled over. Though Mewtwo never laughed, he did the best sound of amusement he could manage—a derisive snort, and seemed to drift away. Silver curled onto his side. After that tea, he was going back to bed. There was no way he was going to think of any good plans about rescuing the Legendary birds without at least three more hours of sleep.

* * *

_A/N: Hello! It is I, halfcurehalfdisease, and I am here with the latest update of ASoTT. That acronym is so stupid haha._

_Anyway, so here's to a chapter of mornings! All mornings and basically no one is getting their morning coffee before shit goes down._

_Also, I'd like to clarify something. Someone in the reviews suggested that Silver potentially wants to sexually assault Lyra (?). No. That is not the case. I don't write non-con. I will NEVER write non-con, and never ever would I write non-con of my OTP. So, I apologize if that's the mood I set with this pairing. That's not at all what I intended to do._

_So, this isn't going to be a long author's note. Sorry. I'm not in the mood to ramble tonight._

_Leave a review if you'd like. Follow it, favorite it, do something with it. I'm writing this fic for it to be read. Enjoy your evening (day) and continue to be such awesome people._


	15. Shift

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I do own a saxophone. Who's the real winner here? *plays sick sax riff***

* * *

"Hey! The door is locked! You mean there are people who _actually _lock their doors around here? What even!"

Kris and Misty had arrived at the house on the other side of Cerulean City. It was intact, though stained by smoke, soot, and perhaps a few other substances, and Misty was doing her best to try and get in.

However, it seemed that a locked door had gotten in her way.

Kris approached the door and gently pushed Misty aside. "Allow me." She twisted her stance into a proper kicking one, settling most of her weight heavily onto her left leg. With a loud "Hyah!" she almost gracelessly slammed her right foot into the wood below the lock. The door swung open, revealing a dark, empty entryway.

She slunk aside and ignored the sharp pain behind her knee; an old injury had been aggravated. "After you, ma'am," Kris said with a bright smile.

Misty returned the smile before marching in, bellowing, "Hey! Where's my Starmie, you freaks?!"

A girlish scream that clearly came from anything but a girlish source reverberated through the house. Kris flicked a light on to cast light over her environment. The house was unbelievably dirty; fast food packaging and soda cans littered the floor while stains of a dubious nature colored the wall in motley shades of hair-raising colors. It smelled vaguely of death. Kris wondered what sort of hellhole they had forced their way into.

"Where are you? And where's my Starmie?" May demanded, stomping through trash toward the source of the girlish scream. "Your city was burned. No one is here. It's about time I take back Starmie and my city, huh?"

A loud, drawn-out groan responded. Kris found the sound familiar—who was this guy? She racked her brains, but she was rewarded with answers as the man whined, "It's not fair! I'm the most brutal man in Team Rocket and what happens? I can't even stop a few Kantonese brats from burning this city to the ground! Hell, I didn't even wake up for it!"

Kris knew that voice anywhere. Unfortunately, that voice belonged to Proton of Team Rocket. When she had spent some time driving off the Johtonese branch of the crime syndicate during her Trainer's leave, she ran into Proton repeatedly. She had crushed him in battle twice, and somehow that had seemed to entrance his masochistic side. He'd made a number of attempts at attracting her attentions, ranging from sending flowers to her to threatening her if she didn't go out on a date. Needless to say, Kris hadn't taken any of it lightly and then physically decimated him. She still had no will to see him, even if he was likely terrified of her.

"Misty, uh…can you handle this on your own?" Kris asked with a nervous laugh, already backing toward the door. "He's a complete pussy. I know him. I just don't want to see him."

"Who is he?" Misty hissed to her.

"His name is Proton. He's twenty, a Scorpio, and absolutely annoying. Please just get Starmie back. I'll be outside!" Kris started to move away, but Misty snagged her by her bicep and yanked her backwards. "Please let me get out of here," she pleaded.

Misty had a strange look in her eye. "Not a chance. You can use your romantic leverage on him."

"THERE WAS NOTHING BETWEEN US!" Kris roared. She realized too late that her voice had reached a pitch that certainly had alerted Proton to her presence.

The Rocket Executive gave a low, dangerous laugh. He appeared in the doorway across the room, gazing at Kris with frighteningly acerbic green eyes. "Well. Kris. Here to help a friend of yours rescue a Pokémon? Or have you come to apologize for tearing a great guy like me apart?"

Kris folded her arms across her chest and arched her eyebrows. "Give her back Starmie or I'm going to kick your ass again."

Proton dug around in the pockets of the dark pants he wore and tossed Misty what looked like a Net Ball. "It's not like we have any use for it anymore. Those assholes blew up everything in this dinky city."

Misty scanned the Apricorn Ball greedily before releasing her Starmie. The Pokémon that appeared was certainly Starmie, but it seemed a little dazed. When Misty called its name, Starmie perked up and toddled straight over to Misty, who scooped it up into her arms joyfully. Nonplussed, Kris remembered that the star Pokémon weighed over 176 pounds on average; Misty was either very strong or very enthusiastic as she hugged the Pokémon.

Kris realized that Proton's eyes were still on her, examining her absolutely boundlessly. "Please leave me alone," she growled at him. "I'm not even into guys."

Proton raised his eyebrows. "You're a lesbian? That's a fantastic challenge, you know."

Misty glared at him. She snapped, "Hey! That doesn't make her a 'challenge'; she's literally not into guys!"

"Arceus! I don't even know if I'm into girls, either! I just know I do _not _like guys!"

Proton smiled. The look on his face was absolutely toxic, and Kris wanted to punch it off his face. "I can make you love guys."

Needless to say, Proton ended up on the floor again, twitching as Kris and Misty exited the house. "What a pervert!" Misty snarled. "I hope he didn't rub off on Starmie."

Kris wiped blood from Proton's newly broken nose off of her hand. She replied, "He's repulsive. He doesn't rub off on anyone. It's more like he'd forcibly smear himself on someone."

Misty glanced at Kris. "Are you actually not into guys?"

"That was the honest truth," Kris replied. "They've never appealed to me."

Setting down her Starmie, she massaged its head jewel. She finally replied, "Well, if you ever figure out what you like, tell me. I'll find someone who's not a creepy Rocket Executive."

Kris blushed a little before laughing. "That'd be much appreciated."

Inside the house, Proton moaned, clutching his injured face. If Aether had sent in assistance while the city burned last night, this would never have happened. He fumbled around in his pockets, dragged out his Pokegear, and dialed a number. The phone rang a few times before a voice picked up. "This is Admin Cruz speaking."

"Where was the fucking help!?" Proton screamed into the Pokegear. The vibration of sound in his face made his broken nose twitch painfully in his face.

The person on the other end sighed loudly. "Hello…uh…Photon, was it?"

"PROTON! My name is PROTON!" he screeched. "This city was completely fucking razed and all you can do is ask if my name is _Photon_?"

"Look, Mr. Proton, you do understand we do not have a good way to help your syndicate all the way over in Kanto right now. Approximately 84% of our organization exists in the Hoenn," Cruz replied in a cool voice. "Our leader's right-hand woman shut it down. We don't have the firepower to deal with a Kanto Champion, a Gym Leader, and…some girl."

"Unbelievable," Proton muttered. "If you guys had done something, I wouldn't have just had my nose broken."

Admin Cruz sighed yet again. "Our weaponization project is so far very limited. We have three Pokémon now bonded to different members of Aether, but the Legendary Pokémon that produced bonds so far are not known for immense strength. We would have been compromised as well, Mr. Proton. I do hope that you will think a little more in the future before bothering us with such petty concerns." They hung up, leaving Proton to moan to himself on the floor.

What a load of bullshit. First Kris, in all of her sexy power, had harmed him yet again, the irrepressible vixen. Then there was Aether being all high and mighty like they owned the world. It wasn't like they didn't, but Proton didn't want to admit to that. Lastly, Cerulean City's rule by Rocket was definitely over. What was the point in keeping that damned Starmie anymore when almost everyone had fled during the attack on the city?

"Giovanni is gonna be _pissed,_" he growled to himself. "Arceus damn it all."

* * *

Kanto, in late morning sunlight, was nowhere near as beautiful as Lyra remembered it, but when was the last time the natural world had possessed unmarked beauty?

She and Silver traveled to the west of Viridian City, where the rocky land led to the Pokémon League gate and also the gate back to the Johto. It surprised Lyra that she wasn't even thinking about passing through the door leading back to the Johto; with Mew's given information, they knew to head to Mt. Silver to free the bird.

The path along which they walked had clearly taken quite the beating. Spatial rends had scattered rubble from sand-colored boulders. Apprehensive, aggressive Pokémon took out their anger on travelers, as Silver and Lyra spent a great deal of time battling Primeape and Fearow. "Calm down! For the love of all that is good and holy!" Copper roared as he shot the stars of his Swift attack in the direction of a pair of Fearow.

"You might want to calm down yourself first," Lyra suggested after the two Fearow flew away squawking.

_He's quite argumentative. _The soft voice of Mew startled Lyra as she walked; the Pokémon had been quiet the whole time, taking the form of an Espeon as she walked alongside the human she had bonded with.

Lyra nodded. "He is. I don't know where I went wrong raising him, but he's burned my hair off like four times. Only two of those were on accident."

Silver glanced at her oddly. He was currently directing Sneasel and Croconaw in a battle on a tall, oddly jagged cliff side against a trio of angry Primeape. Lumi had also thrown herself into the fray, using Thunder Wave on any Pokémon that came too close to her comrades. "Are you talking to Mew or me?" he asked.

"She and I are talking. Sorry," she said sheepishly. Lumi gave a weak but effective shock to a Primeape that nearly punched Sneasel squarely in the face. "Way to go, Lumi! Keep fighting!"

"Those Primeape have to be close to level 50. How strong is Lumi?" Silver asked.

"Well, she's only about level 10," Lyra admitted. "Hey, Copper. Go help up there. Make sure Lumi doesn't get her lights punched out."

Copper sprang into action and assisted in battling the powerful trio of Primeape. Lyra watched as the four Pokémon worked together to, in the end, overcome the Fighting-type Pokémon. With a smirk of amusement twisting his lips, Silver asked, "You just sent a wimpy little Pokémon up there to fight those guys?"

"If she started to get hurt, I would've brought her back," Lyra said.

Mew rubbed her face against Lyra's leg. _You impress me._

Lyra smiled. "Well, thank you!" Turning to Silver, she asked, "Where's Mewtwo at, by the way? He teleported us to the gate leading west out Viridian and then…well…he's not here."

"He'll meet us there," Silver replied coolly.

Lyra watched as the Pokémon gingerly clambered down the rugged cliff. The sun cast strange, amber glows over the cliff. It almost looked jaundiced, diseased, unnatural—stone was never _that _yellow, was it? However, she didn't ponder it for long, as Mareep had met a block about ten feet off the ground. Lyra made her way a few feet up. "Here, let me help. I don't want you to fall now."

Lumi hopped onto her Trainer's shoulder. "Oh! Thank you!" the Mareep cried.

"You did well up there. I'll bet you'll evolve into a Flaaffy soon," she said with a smile.

Lumi blushed. "So soon?"

Lyra nodded. "Of course!"

From there they traveled on. Mew quietly walked alongside Lyra while the other Pokémon gabbed loudly with each other. Somehow, their parties had integrated quite well; Croconaw was friendly with every Pokémon in a brotherly way. Copper knew the inappropriate jokes to make Lumi scoff and the other two laugh. Sneasel wasn't nearly as rude as he was to Lyra.

It was a heartwarming thing to observe, but Lyra also had a lot on her mind. It occurred to her that the colors of the world, not just the cliff where the Pokémon had fought, seemed…_off. _The grass seemed brownish, the sky too violently blue, the clouds stark white. "What's up with the colors?"

Silver glanced at her. "Are you talking to me or Mew?"

"Uh…both?" Lyra decided.

Mew seemed to simply shrug in response, whereas Silver replied, "I know what you mean, but I have no fucking clue. Palkia doing the whole spatial rend thing must be affecting everything, and not just the earth. Look how damned weird the light looks some days. Maybe he's off tearing up the sun, too."

"I hope not," Lyra mumbled. "Didn't Arceus create Palkia? Why hasn't Arceus stopped any of this?" she asked, tipping her head back to the sky.

Mew tugged at her leg. _There's something you need to know about that, Lyra. It's really important._

"What?" Lyra asked her.

"Hold up!" Lyra looked up to see Silver bristling at the sight of four Team Rocket grunts blocking off their path. "This is Team Rocket business through here! Get back to where you belong, stupid kids!"

Silver glanced to Lyra. His eyes resembled paths straight to Hell; he was in no mood to be pestered by Rocket Grunts this early. "Can we destroy them?" he asked in an undertone. "I can't believe they're hanging out this close to the Pokémon League. It's pissing me off."

Lyra nodded. "Yeah. Let's get to it."

However, just as they directed their Pokémon to battle, something annoyingly familiar and dangerous happened; space contorted. There had been no build-up to it, no strange feeling in her gut, but it slammed the earth hard. "Shit!" Lyra hissed, returning all of her Pokémon to their Pokeballs and gathering Mew into her arms, who quickly transformed into her natural form. Silver did the same.

The Rocket Grunts had scattered, some taking off for the Pokémon League gate in the distance. Lyra knew they weren't going to make it and that copious amounts of human blood would splatter the ground. They had stick suits, but stick suits didn't prevent spiked earth from stabbing them or rifts to swallow them up and crush them into a grotesque puree.

"Lyra! Quit fucking around! Come on!" Silver grabbed her by the arm and roughly dragged her behind him as they ran toward a cramped overhang on a nearby cliff. The sky was so blue, so misleadingly blue.

She tripped over a spike that had formed in the ground, and sharp pain shot through her ankle as she tried to keep up. Silver didn't seem to notice her offbeat stride, and he shoved her underneath the overhang before pushing himself in beside her. The world around them shifted, creaked, clattered, groaned—it didn't everything it wasn't supposed to do. Lyra sighed, hugging Mew to her body tightly. "I think I just hurt my ankle," she whispered.

Silver glanced over at her. "You're not cut or anything, though, right?"

"No," she added dryly. Her ankle truly stung.

Mew wriggled out of her arms slightly to nose at it. _I think it's a hairline fracture. That's pretty easy to fix. _A green energy leaked from Mew's mouth to inject healing energy into her friend. The energy scratched and twitched in strange ways as it entered the core of her bone; Lyra wanted to scratch at it, but she knew it wouldn't give her any relief. Soon, her whole leg and hip began to experience the same itch, and she moaned in discomfort.

Lyra squirmed uncomfortably, her hip digging into Silver's. "Dang it! Quit that!" she squeaked.

Silver scowled and pushed back. "Hey! You're going to shove me out!"

"I can't help it! She's fixing my ankle and it feels so nasty!" she complained, wriggling harder.

Silver rolled his eyes and grabbed her. His grip was tight, ensnaring her in place securely against his side. After a moment of thought, he pulled her between his legs and locked his legs around her torso. "You're still moving too damned much," he muttered as Lyra gasped loudly at the change in the situation. Between her ankle pulsing in strange and unbearable ways and Silver holding her so tightly to him, she was practically shaking.

Mew observed the situation as the world continued to turn on itself outside of the overhang. _Lyra, your face is quite red._

"This is your fault, you know!" she exclaimed, attempting to point at Mew. The attempt was foiled by the strict placement of Silver's arm.

"Your lack of self-control is causing all of your problems, idiot," Silver growled as she convulsed again.

She hung her head and groaned. Hopefully the itchy, disgusting feeling of Mew's energies would leave soon. Lyra prayed that Silver wouldn't have to hold her much longer and that the world would calm down again soon.

* * *

"Red! Where are you going!"

The Kanto Champion turned at the sound of Blue's voice. It was a little past noon, after a spatial rend had passed through and overturned a few trees, and Red had made his decision to return to where he was comfortable: surrounded by snow on top of Mt. Silver.

He glanced at his old friend, who was tailed by an apprehensive-looking Leaf. "I'm going back to Mt. Silver. I shouldn't have come down," he replied with a grave voice.

Blue scoffed haughtily, eyeing his rival with distaste. "Dude, are you serious? We did the world a good deed! Team Rocket left and I think Misty was off to get her city back under control," he called, scrambling over rocks that had been shifted around precariously by the spatial rend. "Don't you _dare _go back so soon," he threatened.

"I'm not needed down here anymore," Red replied. He released Charizard from his Pokeball. "You guys keep an eye on Cerulean City."

Leaf crossed her arms. "Not a chance. I'm going with you. I don't like the look in your eyes."

Red shook his head at her and straddled Charizard's back. "No."

She brought out her Fearow and gracefully perched on her back. "Yes, Red."

Blue, not about to be showed up by his old friends, released Pidgeot and sat on him, too. "Yeah, what she said."

Red gazed at both of them in irritation. Slowly, he replied, "If you're coming with me, you don't get to stay up there for long. I need that place to myself and my Pokémon, where I'm far away from everything else."

Charizard took off. Much to Red's dismay but not at all to his surprise, Blue and Leaf followed. _Great. Things will never be quiet again, will they? _He thought darkly. The air was clear, yet it did nothing to clear his clouded head.

* * *

Steven had never seen a Pokémon as physically powerful as White's Samurott. A female with a rather sweet disposition outside of battle, she was a demon in battle. She could break a boulder in half with a strike from one forepaw. "Is she on steroids?" Steven asked White as she demonstrated this ability of her Pokémon's to Serena and May. They had returned to the beach that White and N had showed up on not too long ago.

"We focused a lot of strength training when she was an Oshawott. Most people focus too much on maxing the Special Attack stat, but Samurott never liked special moves. She always needed to physically beat the tar out of her opponents," White replied.

Samurott turned and nodded, her eyes sparkling with joy. "That's right! You love beating Pokémon up, isn't that right?" she cooed.

Her Pokémon nodded happily, declaring, "Sam, ott samur!" _Yes, it's quite satisfying._

Zoroark, laying in the sun to Steven's left, opened one eye balefully at Samurott. "Zor." _You're being loud._

Steven's Pokenav buzzed, and he dragged it from his pocket. He had hoped it was Phoebe calling back—earlier he had asked her to leave Mt. Pyre and join them in their fight against Aether. It had been futile; the girl wanted nothing to do with anyone and mostly ignored the world.

Unfortunately, it was not Phoebe calling back. It was an alert about a spatial rend that had occurred in the Kanto and Johto regions. He grimaced; the localized ones did far more damage than ones that affected the entire planet. "Looks like there was a nasty spatial rend off in the Kanto and Johto," he remarked.

Serena cringed. "That is sad. I notice we have not dealt with many here," she commented. "There have only been two since I came to this region earlier this month."

May nodded. "We don't get localized ones usually. It doesn't make much sense; we were the ones who screwed up so badly. You'd think we'd be the one paying for it," she remarked, retying her bandana.

"That would make more sense. I wonder why that is," Serena murmured. Turning to her friend, she tugged at the bandana. "It is…loppy?"

"Lopsided?" May offered.

"Yes. That," Serena muttered as she shifted it so it sat correctly on May's head.

"Hello!" N appeared on the green hill above the beach, darting down to the sand while gingerly carrying May's laptop. "I found information for the admins!"

Steven, the women, and the two Pokémon drew closer as N displayed the screen to them. "There are two options that would make sense. There is an admin working in Sootopolis City named Andrea Alba who is known to explore to ocean, searching for rare underwater Pokémon to utilize. She also is known to roam and collect data on land Pokémon. There is also an admin, Jackson Daly, working out of his home Mauville City who is obsessed with the Legendaries. We could falsify letters from these admins, draw out some of their major leaders, and cause a great deal of destruction."

White grinned at her fiancé. "Perfect. Good work, N."

He nodded. "You couldn't expect anything less from me."

Steven couldn't help but smile. Things were suddenly going so swimmingly; he would have to reward N with more heavily carb-laden food later. "Excellent. So…let's figure out some locations to lead them to, why don't we? And someone write some letters; let's get started right away."

* * *

Dialga peered at the destruction Palkia had caused in the Kanto and Johto and sighed. Though the regions were not her home of choice, she had grown particularly fond of the Johto, especially because of the temple early architects had designed and then constructed in the far northern portions of the region: the Sinjoh Ruins. Seeing broken trees, scattered stones, and destroyed houses brought about a boiling rage in her. Palkia simply could not control himself. Giratina, who had murdered hundreds of people and Pokémon for fun, had better control than their brother did.

She hated to think it, but she couldn't help but wonder if it would be merciful upon the universe and their beautiful planet to destroy him. Palkia was not needed to control space any longer; the cogs of the universe had already been set in place eons ago. Now, however, he could alter it and harm it in ways that were unacceptable and detrimental to the survival of anyone living within Arceus's grand creation.

Her head bowed in sorrow, Dialga understood that she might be tasked with killing her own brother if he could not calm himself. _I am sorry, Father, that I would hurt my family. But you have burdened us by abandoning us. _Lifting her head, her red eyes flickered over the tangled threads of time that spun around her. A dark void existed in the near distance, one that she was rapidly approaching. If Palkia continued his work, the threads would die, and she, too, like everyone else would.

It was time to kill or be killed.

* * *

"Hey, boss, we just received some tantalizing emails!" Corona rushed into her boss's office, grinning from ear to ear. "Admins Alba and Daly have some incredible information for us!"

Her boss barely turned in the great, swiveling office chair to look at her. As always, the office's large windows were covered by dark blinds, casting the room in shades of soft, bluish gray as sunlight poured through the windows. "What is this information?" the boss asked with a rather light, airy voice.

Corona could barely contain herself as she declared, "We've been tipped off to Kyogre and Groudon's locations in cryostasis! We can go there and finish the job! We'll finally be able to destroy them so there's never another Aqua/Magma crisis!"

The boss laughed. It wasn't a nice sound. It rasped, cold and slithering, in Corona's ear. "Deeply fascinating. This sounds like a good first mission for our weaponized Legendaries and their partners."

"I was thinking of sending Recruits Parr and Nunez to deal with Groudon; there is a type advantage there and they also seem to work fairly well together," Corona said. "And then Admin Cruz will deal with Kyogre; _she _has many Pokémon that are useful in aquatic territories."

After a moment's silence, the boss concurred, "I agree. Do go with Cruz and send backup with both groups. In the chance that this a trap, however, send only grunts and a few lower-level admins with powerful Pokémon. I would rather not lose them over someone hacking an email. Needless to say it is worth a shot."

Corona growled at the thought of working with her stupid-ass _sister, _but she nodded with a sigh. "Yes, boss." She turned on her heel to walk from the office. A thought occurred to her, and she paused mid-step. "By the way, open the blinds once and a while. I'm freezing my ass off in here, meaning you're probably dying from hypothermia or something."

The boss didn't reply, so she simply sashayed out of the room, pleased that she would finally get to test the weaponized Legendaries in the field. And what a way to do it! It would certainly be grand!

* * *

_A/N: Hello! It's a-me, Mars! I'm here to deliver the latest update of this fic to you. I meant to do that last night (this morning technically but shhh), but my day kind of got out of hand. I apologize._

_So, here I am, trying to take somewhat parallel storylines and make them congruent and intersecting. It's getting to be a little much. Very few of you have complaints about it, but those of you who do...I feel you. I like reading multiple POVs and multiple storylines but writing it is starting to give me a little bit of a conniption._

_Dialga puts up with no shit. Dialga is no-nonsense. Dialga is a compassionate and tragic queen. Bow down to her._

_Speaking of putting up with stuff, Silver dealing with a very squirmy Lyra in a very small space. I'm not sure I would've dealt with it the way he did, but then again I'm not Silver. I should throw that in my disclaimer, too: DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON AND I AM NOT SILVER, SON OF GIOVANNI. It's quite entertaining to write from his perspective, though, because he's kind of a moron sometimes._

_When will we find out who the boss of Aether is? Are they an actual character in the game? Are they an OC? Is it really just Vinn Diesel travelling across universes? Some update in the future...you will find out._

_As an early warning, I will probably get an update or two out this week at least, but then I'm going to be gone for about four and a half days. Chances are that I won't update in that time period (or write), so any chapters after the updates this week will be delayed. It will be the mini Hiatus of August. There will probably be another one of those whenever I have Leadership Camp (ew) and marching band boot camp, because those bookend a weekend that's a bit busy._

_Leave a review! I cherish them and I really do draw from them. So if there's something that's bugging you or anything, you can go ahead and say and I'll see if I can fix it up a bit in upcoming chapters. We're a little far in for major plot adjustments and character overhauls, but I can still gently adjust things chapter by chapter._

_Until next update, stay safe and enjoy your days!_


	16. Discovery

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon owns me. I am its bitch.**

* * *

In the short span of time Red had been gone, his mountain had been overrun with none other than Team Rocket.

He gaped at the swarms of black-uniformed miscreants who had set up tents and dubious scientific equipment in the rugged, forested landscape around Mt. Silver. How had they done this so quickly? What was even happening?

Blue pulled even with him as his Pidgeot flew. "Red! What the hell is this?" he demanded, gesturing at all of the Rockets below. They were too high up for the grunts to discern them properly, but at the same time Red had spent far too many years looking at Team Rocket grunts to not know what they looked like from several hundred feet up.

He remembered that Blue had asked him a question. "What makes you think I know?" Red hollered back over the wind.

Now it was Leaf's turn to urge Fearow to catch up with the boys. She leaned toward Red and called, "You haven't been gone that long! This is weird!"

"I know! Peak!" Red ordered his friends, gesturing to the snow-covered peak of Mt. Silver.

They flew to it and quickly landed. No one was dressed properly for the weather, but the only person who seemed to be bothered by the cold was Blue. He had immediately started to shiver upon landing. "So we're obviously going to drive away some Team Rocket members again," Leaf commented, tossing her bangs out of her face.

Red nodded. He gazed down the mountain. "I have no idea what they're doing, but they need to get out of here."

"W-what's the plan?" Blue asked, his teeth chattering obnoxiously.

"We split up. Blue, go drive off the lackeys along the path from the League gate to here. Leaf, check the mountain for grunts and drive them off in any way you can. I'm going to find some answers," Red said.

Leaf withdrew her Fearow and released her Onix once more. "Got it," she replied, and she headed toward the entrance to the system of caves within the mountain.

Blue gratefully hopped in Pidgeot's back and flew out toward the path.

That left Red alone in knee-deep snow. Charizard gazed at him in concern as Red began to shake with bottled-up tears. People were exhausting. Being a hero was even more exhausting. "Char, charrr?" Charizard questioned. _Red, are you okay?_

Red shook his head. Years on the mountain had given him an ability to understand his Pokémon—not word for word, but exact meanings. "I'm so tired," he groaned.

"Zard." _Then let's get this over with, _Charizard encouraged him, nosing his companion with his snout.

Red took a deep breath before nodding. "I guess so." He wiped at his eyes. Ice had glued his eyelashes partially shut already. "Let's take care of this."

* * *

The spatial rend had passed quickly, as had the strange tingling in Lyra's leg, but the ghost of Silver's unforgiving embrace lingered around her. Mew, keeping her natural form, kept giggling at Lyra's red face. "Quit that," Lyra chided the pink Pokémon.

_I was afraid I did something bad, but you seemed to quite enjoy being held in place by that boy, _Mew commented, lifting her brows suggestively.

"Gross!" Lyra hissed.

"What's gross?" asked Silver as they padded through the Pokémon League gate. He seemed to be keeping a safe distance between himself and the girl as they walked through the rattled building. The spatial rend had been powerful enough to shake even stick fabric-draped walls.

Lyra returned her attentions to Silver and simply said, "Many things."

He simply rolled his eyes at her and looked ahead. Lyra had no idea how he always looked so businesslike—well, if businesslike included looking consistently irritated with two-thirds of the planet's population and prone to smirking. She turned back to Mew and whispered, "You heard what he said. I have bad self-control. Don't trigger that."

Mew smiled at her.

They exited the League Gate and entered a path that had been ravaged by the spatial rend. Jagged spikes of earth were crumbling as Lyra and Silver walked past them, and fallen trees lined the path. Nervous Pokémon scrambled about, mostly avoiding the humans as they crossed the desolate landscape. "That was an incredibly harsh one," Silver remarked, stopping in front of a fallen tree that was so wide that it came up to Lyra's chest, even while sitting on the ground. "Look at these trees. Snapped right in fucking half. Some of these trees are hundreds of years old and still got bent like toothpicks."

Lyra ran her hands over the bark and gazed at it sadly. "That's pretty awful."

Already Silver had clambered over it to keep moving. "Hey!" she exclaimed, attempting to hoist herself over the thick-trunked tree and failing miserably. "Slow down!"

Silver turned to watch her struggle. "Do you need help?" he asked flatly, sadistic amusement sparking in his eyes.

"No I don't! Not yet!" she declared.

Mew sighed. _I'll help you instead. _A boost of psychic energy allowed Lyra to climb over the log without losing her pride by asking Silver for help. _Your pride is not why I chose you._

"Yeah, well, I still don't get why you're here aside from the fact that I'm supposedly 'pure'," Lyra replied as she jogged over to Silver.

"So. Climbed over that log all by yourself, did you?" he asked with a smirk.

Lyra simply smiled at him before reminding him, "We have business to do." She continued past him, but she made it no more than twenty feet down the path before yet another harsh male voice roared, "Don't you dare keep moving!"

A duo of Rocket grunts fought their way out of the thick foliage of the surrounding forest and popped out, looking more than ready to fight. "Hello," Lyra greeted. She checked for Mew. The grunts weren't hyperventilating, so she assumed that Mew had either turned into a more common Pokémon or had concealed herself at the first sign of trouble. "Did you guys get through the spatial rend okay? That was a bad one."

The grunts exchanged glances. One of them, the woman of the pair, demanded, "What do you care? If you're coming this way you're obviously looking for a beating!"

"Yeah! Scram!" shouted the man.

Lyra felt a large and intimidating presence come up behind her. Either it was a very angry Ursaring or it was Silver. "How about you scram? I hear you're up to some pretty fucked up stuff around here," he commented.

"Not a chance!" The male grunt roared. He and his partner sent out a combined total of seven Pokémon; three Golbat, two Koffing, one Raticate, and one Houndour.

Lyra and Silver quickly sent out all of their own, aside from Speckle, who was too small and helpless to fight Team Rocket Pokémon at this point. Though they were outnumbered, the four Pokémon made quick work of their seven enemies. As long as Copper was there, it seemed that most enemies weren't about to cause trouble. The grunts stared in horror at the damage upon their Pokémon and scrambled off. "Shit," Silver cursed. "They'll tell other people about us."

"We'll have to be sneaky," Lyra decided.

Silver nodded with a sigh. "That means being quiet and not talking to that chatty-ass Mew of yours."

Lyra and Mew complied. Returning the four Pokémon to their Pokeballs, the odd pair continued on their way, moving silently and stealthily into dangerous territory.

* * *

Leaf, in various senses of the word, had been able to remain invisible for most of her life. She had never been naïve like Red, who simply assumed he could disappear after defeating Team Rocket and becoming the Champion. Unlike Blue, she never thirsted for attention in uncomfortable ways. She wasn't distinctively beautiful; she was slender and kept clean, but she was not the sort of person who stuck long in a person's memory unless her prowess in Pokémon catching and research came up.

Likewise, she was able to sneak around like a fleeting shadow.

The system of caves was vast and dusky, cast only here and there with shafts of sunlight peering through gaps in the rock wall and gaping maws of caverns. As soon as Leaf had moved through two levels of cave, she encountered scientists and admins of Team Rocket. She recognized two lewd-looking men: Petrel and Archer. They had plagued the Johto a few years back, what with their almost bumbling leadership and innate aggression. Leaf had been travelling the Johto at the time in search of Pokémon that were not catchable in the Kanto, and boy, had they _ever _made her job difficult!

Instead of revealing her presence to them, Leaf sent out her Onix to rattle them off their feet with an Earthquake. While the Rockets went down with a loud cry of surprise, Leaf edged around the cave until she saw toppled computers and various bits of scientific equipment. What were they up to? She signaled for Onix to follow her down to the next level.

They continued like this for multiple levels: violent earthquakes to knock out dubious equipment and then sneaking to the next part of the cave.

About halfway down the mountain behind a fat structure of stalagmites, she heard a grunt nearby growl, "What is this? Some Onix has been going through the mountain just knocking out all of our equipment? I didn't think these Pokémon gave a damn!"

Leaf smiled and nodded to Onix, who lay in wait for her latest command. Seismic waves shot through the mountain, knocking over equipment and startling the grunts. With a quiet giggle, Leaf rushed to the carved stairs leading to the next level down and rushed down them with Onix on her heels.

* * *

Blue had attempted to be discreet and launch a surprise attack on a group of grunts. He had Pidgeot land in a patch of trees far from places overrun with grunts. In fact, he had been quiet—or so he thought.

It didn't take him long to be observed by the group of grunts sitting around drinking cheap whiskey from hip flasks and enter a series of battles.

With only his Pidgeot, he defeated around twenty Pokémon sent out by the Rockets and sent them scrambling away. "Man, I'm so OP-ed," he commented to Pidgeot. "You're so OP-ed. These battles are so easy."

They continued on down the path, quickly defeating groups of grunts with little more than his Pidgeot and occasionally his Arcanine to stomp out the infestation of Rockets. It wasn't difficult work; as he had so eloquently stated, his training had left his Pokémon overpowered.

He was about halfway between Mt. Silver and the Pokémon League Gate when he noticed an altercation going on down the path. "What's this?" he muttered. There was a trio of Rocket grunts that seemed to be losing in a rather unexpected manner. Massive, startlingly bright plumes of flame, quickly followed by the crackle of static and shattering of ice, lit up the shade cast by the tall trees surrounding the path.

"This little girl's Quilava is scary! Let's get the fuck out of here!" shouted one particularly terrified grunt. His colleagues followed suit. Blue quickly observed what looked like a teenage girl with an uneven bob cut praising a Shiny Quilava and a Mareep, crouched at their level. A tall boy, maybe eighteen or nineteen, with red hair simply returned his Sneasel and Croconaw to their Pokeballs.

The girl turned to the redhead and chided, "Silver, you have to remember to show your Pokémon a little more respect. They were fantastic!"

The boy, however, wasn't paying attention to the girl. His eyes flicked up to Blue. "You're the Gym Leader Blue," the boy said, staring the man down. "Are you working for Team Rocket now?"

"Holy shit, no," Blue replied, eyeing the boy with apparent disgust. This person's distrust of him, combined with the location in which they stood, made him nervous. "Who the hell are you?"

The girl bounced to her feet and waved, breaking up the tension. "Hello! I'm Lyra, and this is Silver. Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres are being kept on this mountain, so we're trying to break them out."

"Lyra! Shut up about that!" Silver hissed nervously.

Blue frowned. The Legendary birds were being kept on this mountain? Why? "So that's why these Rockets are swarming the place? They're holding the birds here?"

"Basically," Lyra concluded, propping a hand on her hip. She cocked her head and squinted at Blue. "Did you used to come to Newbark Town a lot? You look familiar, like maybe you did some research there."

Nonplussed by the girl's—Lyra's—conversational mannerisms, he answered, "Uh…yeah. I did."

"Oh! Yeah! I remember you!" she exclaimed with a smile. "So now you're a Gym Leader?"

He slowly nodded. Blue seemed to have lost the ability to comprehend the girl's attitude along with the seriousness of the implication that the birds were stuck in Mt. Silver. He turned to the boy, the one named Silver. "If that's true about the birds, two of Kanto's strongest Trainers—well, aside from me, of course—are here. We could easily go fix it. Thanks for the tip."

"Safety in numbers!" Lyra chirped, darting up to him. "We'll help."

Silver strode up, looking deeply irritated with both of them, and hooked an arm around Lyra to drag her away from the Gym Leader. "A Legendary Pokémon came to us for help. Not you. So fuck off."

Lyra pushed his arm away. "Mew came to me, and don't you forget that." Blue had once again lost the flow of the conversation, and it startled him, as well as Silver, when Lyra grabbed the boys by the arm and began to drag them along. "We'll take all the help we can get, and I'm pretty sure you could use a lot of help, too, Blue."

"Let go of me," Silver growled.

She shook her head. "Not a chance. Not until you agree."

"I'm…willing to accept help?" Blue said, still wondering how they had gotten from point A to point B in this case.

Silver rolled his eyes. "Fine. Just don't let him get in our way."

Blue was affronted. Him? Get in the way? Like some rookie Trainer? Neither of these _children _had fully-evolved Pokémon. He bit his tongue, though, and followed the girl, Lyra as she let go of their arms and started up the path.

* * *

A Team Rocket grunt sat outside one of the tents in which one of the "transporters" was parked. He had no idea what this "transporter" was or what it was supposed to transport, but he was technically supposed to be guarding it.

"Who the fuck is around like this in the wilderness? I mean, supposedly Red lives up on Mt. Silver, but holy shit! I don't see him coming to mess with our stuff!" the grunt cried to the sky.

Moments later, the grunt slumped to the ground unconscious. The Kanto Champion Red examined the grunt and sighed. He needed a Rocket uniform in order to blend in and ask some questions around the clustered tents. However, the man looked noticeably shorter, perhaps only about five foot seven. Not that Red himself was particularly tall for a man; Blue had a few inches on him. But the uniform would be comically short on him.

Deciding that one unconscious body was suspicious enough on its own, he dragged the limp form of the Rocket grunt into the tree line.

A new Rocket grunt emerged from the trees, this one with rolled-up sleeves and the brim of his had pulled low over his eyes. _This man sure sweats a lot, _Red thought in disgust. He glanced around at the lonely area, where all of the activity seemed to be in tents, and prayed that no one noticed what he had just done.

Sitting down where the grunt had just been sitting minutes before, he did his best to look as slouchy and inattentive as the grunt from before. Maybe he would learn some information here.

* * *

Leaf returned Onix once she made it to a level where she heard waterfalls. _Waterfall. _A cave near waterfalls within Mt. Silver was said to be one of the many haunts of Moltres, the fire bird. She swept silently through the cave, evading grunts. Here there seemed to be less equipment and a hushed, almost deadened atmosphere.

What were the Rockets up to?

She lithely shimmied over rocks, up walls, and out of sight of the grunts who seemed to be patrolling in search of trouble near the base entrance of Mt. Silver. Clinging to a ridge above the pool that gathered the runoff from the waterfall, she observed the mouth of a cave. Leaf decided she wanted to check it out. This had to be the Moltres cave. Was Team Rocket after the Flame Pokémon? She lowered herself toward the water and slipped soundlessly into the icy water; Leaf would swim to the cave to check it out.

The pool turned out to be deeper than she expected, and she sank a good ten feet before she made any horizontal progress. She swam forward through the chilly water and rationalized her shocked system by reminding herself that Blue would probably have surfaced by now, crying like a bitch. Her childhood friend was a tough Trainer, but he was by no means a good outdoorsman. It was why he didn't last particularly long working for his grandfather as a researcher—he simply didn't have the knack for the outdoors and less-than-stellar living and travelling conditions.

About halfway across the pool, she surfaced to breathe and correct her course; she had been going too close to the waterfall.

On the next breath, she made it to the cave beside the waterfall. Leaf scanned the area. It was devoid of grunts, so she quietly hauled herself onto the shore and quickly wrung out her dripping hair. She tied it off her neck, debating what to do. The cave beyond could potentially be a dangerous place; not that she wasn't a strong trainer, but it concerned Leaf that she would go in on her own.

However…she certainly _was _quite stealthy.

She took a deep breath and slipped into the cavern.

It took all of her willpower not to gasp at what was in front of her. Moltres's cave was not only inhabited by the Flame Pokémon, but also by her sisters: Articuno and Zapdos. They were confined in large spheres of some kind of psychic energy.

Leaf concealed herself behind a fat stalagmite, her eyes huge. Team Rocket had done something terrible, all right. She couldn't believe they had managed this in just a few days; how would Red react to know that his mountain was being used to trap enraged birds?

* * *

_Author's Note: Hello! This has been a very rough week for me; I apologize for a decrease in quality. I'm quite emotionally shot. I promise the next update, which will be before Saturday when I leave for my vacation, will be of better quality, I promise. It will also be longer and focus on stuff in the Hoenn (so probably the only chapter of this story not including Silver and Lyra, basically)._

_Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are some of my favorite Legendary Pokemon. They don't have much in-game lore; they just kind of existed, you know? At least the anime elaborated a bit on that, although I don't consider a lot of that to be canon._

_So...I don't have a lot to say? Wow. I've been rendered speechless._

_Leave a review. Just be nice, okay? I'm kind of at the end of my rope hahaha._

_Until next update, take care of yourselves! _


	17. Mistakes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But it once happened in a dream. What a beautiful dream *sigh*.**

* * *

Brendan felt ill. Terribly ill. In fact, he wanted to throw up, cry, and sleep for weeks, but he had a cover to keep up. He was Brett Parr, not Brendan Fuertes.

He and Aurora, along with a group of a half dozen grunts from Aether, had been sent to deal with none other than Groudon. Some administrator working out of Lavaridge Town had sent coordinates to where the huge Pokémon was being kept in cryostasis. Cruz and Corona respectively were being sent to deal with Kyogre.

Brendan was horrified, to say the least. He was being ordered to kill _Groudon. _What the hell.

It had been the first time in weeks that Brendan had set foot outside of the headquarters, and he should've enjoyed it. He should've enjoyed the sea breeze floating through Mauville City and the sun on his face. But he didn't. He hated knowing that Cruz would destroy the Kyogre he had grappled with for days, along with so many others, in order to subdue it. Though he didn't know for certain where Groudon had been located, as that had been May's area of expertise, he could clearly picture that shoal in the middle of the Hoennese ocean leading to underwater catacombs.

He felt Darkrai nearby and heard his train of thought, but the Pokémon was entirely invisible. Brenda longed for some company.

"Parr? You all right there?" He glanced at Aurora, who emerged from headquarters with Shaymin riding upon her shoulder, and did a double-take. Her hair had already been short, but now it was buzzed as short as his was. "You look like you might throw up."

He shook his head. "This is wrong."

Aurora sighed loudly and tipped her head back as she leaned against the brick wall of the office façade. "I…I have to disagree with you."

Brendan glanced at her, his eyes huge. "What do you mean?"

"When Kyogre and Groudon started fighting after Rayquaza died, Dewford Town flooded, especially the parts closest to the shore. My parents sent my two brothers, three sisters, and me to safety. Tino and I got them there, but then…well…" she took a deep breath and continued, "they didn't make it. They had tried to rescue our neighbor, this old woman, and instead they were swept away in the tide. About a week later, their bodies were found near the Abandoned Ship. Kyogre and Groudon fighting left me orphaned."

Brendan could only stare at her as her eyes, still tainted green, met his with a defiant clash of will. "I hate them. I don't like that those Pokémon have control over the weather like that. Palkia, too…if I could, I'd kill him. In fact, I will kill him if no one else does, first." She raised her eyebrows at Brenda. "What's the issue?"

"It's just…they're sacred," he croaked with a dry mouth, "and what if it leads to further destruction?"

"It won't," she growled. "I won't be like that dumbass Champion Brendan Fuertes and leave loose ends. If I ever meet him, I will kill him for screwing us all over." She ran a hand through her newly-buzzed hair and smiled at him coldly. "Let's do this."

Brendan held up a finger in the universal "wait a second" position. He hobbled off to a patch of grass and released the contents of his stomach. Between Aurora's innate hatred of the Weather Trio and also of his true self, plus the task at hand, he felt too ill to hold it in. Aurora sighed loudly behind him. "Make it quick. We've got a lot to do."

* * *

"There are only five of us. However, Serena has Yveltal, so we're going to count that as six. So, in the name of knowledge of the land, we're going to send May with Serena to the place where 'Groudon' is at for an ambush. Remember not to kill; only defeat them and see if you can get any information to future plots; take prisoners and use threat of force if needed.

"That leaves White and N with me. We will head to the place in the ocean where 'Kyogre' is at. We'll follow the same plans. If everything else fails, flee and set off smoke bombs if you can.

"Any questions?

"None? Good. Move out."

* * *

Cruz thrilled at the rush of wind through their hair as Latios soared low over the waters. A grin spread over the administrator's face and a whoop escaped their lips.

_Enjoying yourself? _Latios asked in amusement.

"Certainly," Cruz replied. Glancing back at their sister, Cruz noted that Corona, on the back of a Honchkrow, didn't seem to be enjoying herself much. That earned her a roll of Cruz's eyes. "If only my sister could enjoy the simple things on occasion."

Latios chortled. _We're on our way to apprehend a Legendary and you're upset that your sister isn't enjoying herself._

"Flying is fun."

The rest of the flight proved to be short and uneventful. Latios, Honchkrow, and the flying Pokémon of the grunts flew over wave and crest, wave and crest, wave and crest…it was monotonous, but only briefly.

They soon approached a sandy island in the middle of the waves. It was a lonely little thing, looking almost tragically depressed as the ocean threatened to swallow it with each swell. Nearby, a few jagged rock formations forced their way free of the waves to tower over the lonely dapple of land. Cruz and the others landed and scanned the otherwise featureless waves. "This doesn't look like a place a Legendary Pokémon would be protected at," commented one grunt, a woman in her early twenties with a Lantern, a Xatu, and a Linoone at her disposal.

"That's the intent, you idiot," Corona retorted, crossing her arms across her chest. Cruz wondered if her irritation stemmed from having to wear a stick suit; at least hers was one of those fashionable, patterned ones that sold for nearly as much as a small house. "Get in the ocean. Someone check those rocks for signs of a cryogenics lab. We're going to destroy that Kyogre if it's the last thing we do."

Cruz sighed as a trio of grunts rode their Pokémon down into glassy, green-blue depths of the ocean and another set off for the large rocks. Latios hovered nearby and sniffed at the salty air, occasionally channeling comments to his bond. "There is always the chance that someone hacked the emails of the admins to mess with us. If anything, you should have told them to search with caution. Because what if—"

An Armaldo leaped from the ocean, screeching in rage. "—it's a trap?" Cruz finished as a second angry Pokémon, Samurott, joined it. "It's a trap. Damn it, Corona, must you send people out without a bit of forethought?"

Corona didn't get to reply to her sibling, as a trio of Trainers began to attack their grunts that were on the rocks. Shaking their head, Cruz released their Pokémon: Emolga and a Froslass. Emolga immediately scrambled onto his Trainer's shoulder.

Cruz gave the situation a moment of thought. Obviously, it had been a trap, and Corona had allowed them to walk right into it without a second of prior thought. They would need to have a talk later about this.

However, now was no time for idle thought. Cruz ordered, "Take care of the Samurott and Armaldo. Froslass, follow her orders as long as they make sense." Hopping onto Latios's back, the duo took off for the rocks, where the three Trainers were easily defeating the grunts.

This worried Cruz. The grunts that had been selected for this mission were some of the most powerful battlers that had joined the ranks of Aether. Who were these powerful Trainers, and where had they come from? One grunt, whose Banette, Sandslash, Glalie, and Shiftry had been easily decimated by the Trainers' Pokémon, took a tumble into the ocean in an attempt to dodge the Braviary one Trainer commanded. Latios slowed his descent to the waters and allowed him to drop gently.

Cruz got a look at the trainers as Latios circled. They all had their faces covered by either the built-in hoods on their stick suits or by some other form of facemask. One was a woman—a tall one with something of a female superhero's build, and she seemed to command the Braviary, as well as a small, brutal Pokémon called Excadrill. The other two were definitely men. One seemed to be concealing a great deal of hair in his hood, and a few greenish strands poked out here and there rebelliously. An Archeops and a Pokémon that continuously shifted its form worked for him.

The third one…Cruz immediately knew who he was. Armaldo had tipped her off; the presence of a Skarmory and a Claydol simply confirmed it.

Steven Stone was once again butting heads with Aether.

"Latios, let's subdue these interlopers," Cruz decided.

Her bond nodded. _Let's do it._

Latios swooped into battle, and Cruz ordered Emolga to attack.

* * *

In retrospect, Brendan should have known that somehow, May and some other powerful Trainers were behind the emails to Aether. But everything seems clearer in retrospect, and it was in the present that Brendan had to marvel at all that had happened.

The moment he and Aurora, followed by a half-dozen grunts, touched down in the desert just north of Mauville City, they had been brutally assaulted by Pokémon that Brendan had been familiar with. Perhaps May had worn her hood pulled lower over her face, but those Pokémon and her movements had immediately tipped him off as to who was there. He knew immediately that May didn't recognize him; his beard, his Pokémon, and the harsh wind that force-fed the battle participants mouthfuls of sand made that quite difficult.

Aurora had done her best to fend off May's Sceptile and a strange blue frog Pokémon by battling side by side with Shaymin, but it had done little. Darkrai's powerful attacks did nothing. Their other Pokémon had quickly succumbed to the might of twelve powerful Pokémon plus one that was absolutely terrifying.

It was Yveltal. The Death Pokémon. He had scared the grunts so badly that it had been a breeze for May and her companion, a dark-skinned girl whose eyes glowed eerily, to defeat the grunts and leave only Brendan and Aurora standing in the swirling stands. Holding her bedraggled Shaymin in her arms, Aurora shouted at their attackers, "What is the meaning of this? Why would you drag us out here and bully us?!"

May stepped forward and snarled, "Bully you? That's hilarious. Your organization is evil. Look at them! They enslaved Legendary Pokémon like Shaymin and Darkrai! They make you people battle with them like weapons!"

Darkrai raised a hand solemnly from where he lay in the sand, looking more bored than overcome. _I feel deeply used and underappreciated. Please liberate me._

"Shut up, Darkrai!" Aurora screeched at the Pokémon. "You and that loser _Brett _back there never got your shit together! Of course he's gonna order you around!"

_I could tell him to yell "I love Hot Wailord on Skitty Action!" right now. It would be good revenge, _Darkrai said, examining the ragged ends of his arms coolly.

May and her friend, the one with the Yveltal, exchanged looks. Brendan noted that Yveltal and the other girl mirrored their movements. After a moment of silence, May called, "Well, anyway, I'm afraid we're going to have to put you out of commission. You're coming with us."

"Not a fucking chance!" Aurora yelled. "You don't get it, do you? Because of Kyogre and Groudon fighting, people died in huge natural disasters! Thousands! Brendan Fuertes couldn't neutralize them way back when! He didn't catch them because he was a wimp, but that's a load of bullshit! People are _dead _now because of him!"

Brendan began to feel sick once more. Aurora hated him. Not Brett Parr, but the true him. She would kill him if given the chance. He also noticed a shift in May's posture; Aurora had hit a nerve, most likely concerning himself. If his companion didn't shut up, she was about to get into a fist fight with a girl who had trained under Fighting-type masters like Brawley and Maylene from Sinnoh. "Aurora—" he started, but she cut him off with a cold glare. "I don't exactly agree with everything Aether does, but I need the money for my siblings, and I need my vengeance, Arceus damn it! I'll destroy those Pokémon, and then I'll destroy him!"

It was too late. May charged at Aurora, her fist drawn back. "_Non! _May! Do not!" shouted the girl, and her voice existed both in his head and in his ears, causing Brendan to feel even sicker. Was there even anything left in his stomach to get rid of?

Aurora tossed Shaymin from her arms, who caught the breeze on her large wings, and immediately began to brawl with May. Aurora was clearly outmatched, but she did manage to hold her own. She used her lack of size to her advantage, ducking under May's punches and throwing low kicks at her legs in an attempt to knock her over. However, May quickly pinpointed her weaknesses and wrestled her to the ground. Shaymin, too weak after the fight to help, bit weakly at May's arm. _Let her go! This is pointless! _Shaymin roared.

"I don't care," May growled. She backhanded Aurora across the face hard. The younger girl groaned; blood flew from her lips with the blow.

Brendan's internal alarms went off. He couldn't believe this; May had never been cruel while sparring with other people. Yet here she was, drawing blood while Aurora was down and almost completely defenseless the way May had straddled her. "May!" he yelped. "This isn't like you! Stop!"

May, preparing to slap her again, paused. She looked to Brendan, her eyes glinting beneath the hood. She tossed it back to squint at Brendan. A pregnant, heavy span of ten seconds passed before May's eyes grew huge. She clapped a hand to her mouth. "B-Brendan?" she stuttered.

Aurora gazed up at her attacker in confusion. "What? No. That's Brett. I mean, they're both losers, but…they're different kinds."

Brendan laughed dryly. "That's…not true. I'm not Brett Parr." He stood up and gazed at the desert, the one he had spent hours in searching for fossils and other desert Pokémon. "My name is Brendan Fuertes. I'm responsible for the death of your parents."

* * *

Steven Stone and his friends were difficult battlers. All of the grunts—plus Corona—had been defeated now, leaving Cruz on her own with Froslass, Emolga, and Latios to take on a grand total of fourteen Pokémon. It seemed that while Steven and the woman had full parties, the man with green hair only had two Pokémon with him: the Archeops and the shape-shifter.

Froslass had already put up a marvelous fight against Armaldo, managing to take him down before Claydol shot her down with Ancient Power. Latios shot strange, shining pulses of energy at his enemies. Emolga was barely hanging on, but her electric strikes certainly did bring down the Braviary.

It still wasn't enough. What had Cruz expected, really? At least one of those people was a Champion. Latios was quickly weakening as well; he had taken a few too many hits from the aggressors' Pokémon.

Perhaps it was time to land and see what these people wanted.

"Let's land," Cruz suggested to Latios.

He nodded. _Not a bad idea._

The Eon Pokémon flew to the nearest rock formation, the one without all the people and Pokémon on it, and landed. Latios almost immediately dropped to the ground, clearly exhausted. It didn't take long for the Trainers to fly over; Steven approached on his Skarmory and the woman and the green-haired man ended up sharing Archeops in order to make it over to the rock.

Steven Stone made it first and marched straight over to Cruz. "Aether was _so _ready to jump on anything that might lead them to Kyogre and Groudon. Did you people even stop to think that it was an ambush?"

"I thought it seemed rather convenient, but my dear sister and the boss seemed to disagree," Cruz retorted, shrugging. The admin plopped onto the ground and heaved a deep sigh. "I have to say, Mr. Stone, you and your friends are quite Powerful. With fourteen Pokémon, you wiped out roughly twenty well-trained warriors."

"Why is she being so nonchalant about this?" The green-haired man whispered to the woman.

Cruz held up a hand. "I'm not a she. I'm also not a he."

"You are…genderless? Like Claydol?" he asked.

The admin shrugged. "I prefer 'nonbinary' but whatever works for you, I guess."

The woman stepped forward a little, approaching Cruz cautiously. "But why are you being so nonchalant about this?"

Cruz once again shrugged. Slowly, they responded, "I'm a scientist. I joined the organization for science, not to go about killing Legendaries. Plus, someone had to keep an eye on my lovely sister down there."

"Is Latios weaponized?" asked the green-haired man. Something about the way he asked it made Cruz want to answer "No! Of course not! Don't kill me!"

Being fairly honest, however, Cruz replied, "He is indeed weaponized."

"Why isn't he upset that you're using him, then?" the green-haired man demanded.

_I could use them just as easily, _Latios replied. His voice startled everyone present, including Cruz. The Eon Pokémon didn't talk to anyone aside from Cruz for the most part, and it was unusual to hear him address a large group. _Plus I could have been stuck with some nasty people. Cruz doesn't order me around and seems genuinely interested in my species._

"Well, we want to know how the process works. So you're coming with us," said Steven Stone. Before Cruz could object, the woman sent out a Lilligant and ordered the use of Sleep Powder. The colorful spores drifted into Cruz's eyes, as well as Latios's, and they were both asleep before either of them even slumped to the ground.

* * *

At first, Aurora seemed frozen. She looked stunned, as though a current had coursed through her and rendered her incapable of movement.

Brendan gazed at her in concern. "Uh…Aurora?"

She rocked her hips violently and shoved a rather stunned May aside. She scrambled to her feet, her face leaking bright blood. "You son of a _bitch!_" Aurora snarled, slowly advancing upon Brendan. "Here you are, _responsible _for all this bullshit and you're in Aether? What are you trying to do? Redeem yourself?"

_He wanted to destroy it, _Darkrai commented. _There's some contrived, tangled-up plan in his head but the weaponization program changed it. _

"Aurora, do you not get that Aether is killing the world?" Brendan questioned, slowly backing up as she advanced.

May rushed the younger girl and grabbed her from behind to hold her back from Brendan. "Look, kid, just leave him alone! What would you have done in his situation?" she demanded as Aurora attempted to twist her way out of May's powerful grip.

"I would have done what was right!" Aurora drove her elbow hard into May's ribs. Her hold was loosened to a point that Aurora broke loose and charged straight for Brendan. He wasn't able to defend himself from her fierce punches and kicks well enough, and he quickly found himself on his back in the sand with Aurora's hands wrapped around his throat. She wasn't squeezing, but it was enough to make Brendan's chest feel tight with panic. "Look at you! Trying to hide behind this stupid beard. This stupid name." Her eyes were laced with angry tears, and a wet, choked sob erupted from her throat. Brendan's panic began to disappear. Crouched over him was a very vulnerable person. He didn't believe she would begin to choke him.

"Aurora. I'm sorry," he said, his voice tight. "I really messed up. I had no idea, back before Aether killed Rayquaza, what would happen. I thought that if I caught all three of those Pokémon, I could harm the world. That was so much power that could be abused. I didn't think that anyone would kill them if I left them alone in the wild. I didn't know what it would bring. I never meant for things to go like this. I didn't mean to kill this world. I thought I was doing what was best," he ended sincerely. He eased his hands up to hers, gently pulling them off his throat.

She let him take her hands away. The tears overflowed and she collapsed against him. For about a minute, Brendan simply laid there, letting her cry on him. It was a strange feeling, knowing how deeply her hatred for him ran. "I still really want to hurt you," she mumbled into his shirt.

May approached and gently removed Aurora from Brendan. Shaymin staggered over to her bond the moment she was away from Brendan, and the girl picked her up, hugging her tightly. "Grudges make you sound old and bitter, kid," May said to her. Aurora didn't respond. Helping Brendan to his feet, she embraced him fiercely. "Are you okay?" she asked him in an undertone.

He nodded, though the motion was quite shaky. "Yeah. I'm…I'm good."

_He really isn't, but allow him his pride. _Darkrai hovered over, gazing at May inquisitively. _You're a formidable woman, aren't you?_

May chuckled and glanced at Serena and Yveltal, who seemed to be checking in on Aurora. "Serena and Yveltal are a little more formidable than me." Cocking her head, she examined Darkrai. "You're a weaponized Legendary?"

The Dark-type Legendary nodded. _That I am. I was partnered to Brendan._

"We want to know how that works. We also need information," May said, a business-like tone returning to her voice. Brendan wanted to ask what she was planning, but she then shouted, "Serena! Get those two out of here!"

Serena gestured to Yveltal who swooped over Aurora and Shaymin. The Pokémon that embodied Death snatched the girl and her bond into hiss talons. Serena grabbed onto his tail and was flicked onto his back. "What are you doing?" Brendan demanded.

May released a Pokémon—an Alakazam. "Teleport," she ordered him as he threw his arm up to protect his face from swirling sands. The psychic energy absorbed May, Darkrai, and Brendan and they were sucked into a cool tunnel of darkness.

* * *

His telephone was ringing off the hook. His computer screen continuously flashed with new messages. The boss of Aether knew that things had gone wrongly and horribly wrong at that; obviously nowhere near enough precaution had been used.

He leaned back in his chair and stared at the bluish lights dancing on his wall. It had been a long time since he had seen sunlight, but he didn't care that he hadn't.

The boss supposed he would have to make an appearance to deal with this. Obviously, he would have to fix whatever had gone wrong on his own.

* * *

_A/N: Hello and welcome to the Hoenn only Chapter! In other words: the weaponization program is a bust because unfortunately three Champions (four if you include N's brief tenure after beating Alder) and then May Birch have to come in and be too tough. Like wayyyyy too tough._

_This is the first chapter in this whole story (aside from the prologue and whatnot) that doesn't involve Lyra, Silver, or both. It feels weird, not including my babies in this chapter. Also, I think this is one of my fastest updates yet (barring the space between the prologue and chapter one); I think it's been less than 24 hours since I've last updated._

_It has been pointed out that May and Leaf are pretty similar in some ways, and I would agree that they are. They're both strong Trainers hoping to complete National Pokedexes (to obtain all 700+ species thus far), they work closely with professors, and they're not the memorable members of their group of friends/allies, but that's about where all the similarities end, I'd say. May is a bit abrasive and sarcastic, whereas Leaf is very quiet and at times blunt. She's also quite a bit more mature than May in some ways, I think._

_So I probably won't update again until sometime next week now, probably later in the week. This is my last update before I go on vacation. I'll maybe write a little during vacation at nights, but if I were you, a reader, I wouldn't expect an update while I'm on vacation._

_Uh...yeah. I still don't have a lot to say. I'm just very tired after this week haha. _

_So leave a review! It's nice to hear what you guys think. It'll also give me a few things to think on while I'm gone._


	18. Cavern

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. But in theory, if Pokemon has stocks, I could buy a small portion of their company, thus owning Pokemon. On a minute scale. **

* * *

"You relievin' Jones from duty?"

Red looking up, startled by the question of a beautiful, buxom Rocket grunt with chocolate brown eyes. She, in the black garb of Team Rocket, sat across from Red's tent in front of another one, looking equally as bored. Attempting to look callous and failing, he settled for being particularly awkward, like a newbie. "Uh, yeah," he replied, chuckling awkwardly.

The grunt frowned. "That's kinda soon. Jones was just put on duty like an hour and a half ago."

"Well…" Red's mind raced for an explanation, and he inevitably blurted, "Jones has the shits! Like really bad shits!"

Nose wrinkled in disgust and sympathy, the grunt retorted, "Damn. Poor kid. I knew the food here was bad, but that bad? Yikes."

A loud screech of terror sounded in the distance. Frown deepening, the grunt stood up and looked off in that direction, away from Mt. Silver and toward the path. "What was that?" she demanded.

Red wondered if it was Blue destroying some grunts. "No idea," he said in his best "And I'd rather not find out!"

"Well, I'm gonna go check it out," the grunt retorted, rolling her eyes at him. "Keep an eye on things around here for me." She released an unusual trio of Pokémon for a Rocket grunt: a Dragonair, a Hitmonchan, and a Blissey and took off in the direction of the sounds.

Red simply shrugged and looked around at the now mostly-empty area surrounding the tents. Mt. Silver cast a frigid shadow over the area; he supposed it wasn't exactly frigid, but it was certainly a stark contrast to the humid summer air outside of the mountain's cast shade. Inside the tent he sat in front of, he heard murmurs that were about birds. What about birds? Pidgeot was a bird Pokémon. So were Fearow, Farfetch'd, and Noctowl. Ancient Earth possessed "animals", like lesser, unintelligent Pokémon, known as "birds"; they'd been in possession of tiny wings and none were large enough to carry people around. A girl he went to school with up until he left on his Pokémon journey was named Bird. What sort of bird were they referring to, and why were they referring to them at the foot of Mt. Silver? A well-known flock of Dodrio made its home around here. It was rumored that the Flame Pokémon Moltres did as well…

He stiffened. Moltres. They had to be referring to Moltres. Of course they were referring to Moltres! But they were also referring to "birds"—pluralized. What were they up to?

A half-baked, potentially idiotic plan formulated in his mind. He needed a distraction in order to get into the tents to obtain clearer information.

Making sure that no one was watching, he dug into pockets. He'd transferred the contents of his actual pant pockets into these ones, including his Pokeballs, a small bag of Pokémon food and a tub of honey. The latter object was used to tempt his Snorlax into action when the Sleeping Pokémon was too unmotivated to move otherwise. However, he wasn't about to use it to motivate Snorlax; he was about to use it to motivate a few other Pokémon into action. Tiptoeing past the tent, Red entered the woods. He found a suitable cedar tree, far enough in that he could no longer see the shiny reddish-black stick fabric through the trees, and slathered the bark in honey. It was a particularly aromatic batch that would attract some large Pokémon.

As he made his way back out of the woods, he dabbed honey on a few trees, dribbled it in the grass, and then emptied the contents in the middle of the cluster of tents. He smiled to himself as he pocketed the mostly spent tub of honey; if the plan worked, it would be the perfect distraction for him to go into those tents without question and find the information he needed.

"Hey! You!" Red looked up slowly to see a grunt, no more than a young boy with dark skin and a halo of dark curls poking out from under his cap. "What are you doing moving up and around like that? You gotta stay at your post!"

"Sorry! I just got transferred here!" Red yelped, doing his best to look startled and terrified by the slight boy's presence.

"Some of us have been working surveillance for _months _out here and they send us some loser like you," he muttered to himself. Pointing at the older man, the boy ordered, "Stay at your post from now on! I don't care if you have to take a leak or if Lugia crash-lands into this clearing!"

_Macho, aren't we? _Red thought to himself as he smiled vapidly and returned to his seat.

He wondered if a potential stampede of Ursaring would be a good reason to leave that spot.

* * *

"So…Silver, if that's _really _your name…is the pretty young lady your girlfriend?"

In the midst of battling a group of ten grunts who had been radioed in to deal with the three interlopers, Silver could not believe how casual of conversation the Gym Leader Blue was attempting to make. It was distracting enough that a grunt's Murkrow nearly took one of Croconaw's eyes out while his Trainer faltered. "Dammit! Croconaw! Bite that bastard with Ice Fang!"

Nearby, Lyra seemed completely unfazed by Blue's questioning of Silver and masterfully took down a quintet of Golbat with Copper and Lumi. Silver glowered at Blue. "Don't ask me shit like that right now!"

"But seriously! Lyra is so damned cute and you mean to say you haven't made a move on her? Plus she's obviously trained that Quilava a little too well. Like, if a girl is cute and nice and good at Pokémon, you obviously gotta go for her," he said simply, commanding his Pidgeot and Arcanine with little focus. He still was sweeping through the grunts like they were little more than blades of grass under the carapace of a lawnmower.

"She's sixteen. I'm nineteen. That's illegal in the Kanto, and there are some wild no tolerance laws there," he grumbled in response.

"But she's from Johto. There they have the "grace period"—as long as the minor is above sixteen and you aren't twenty, it's totally legal," Blue replied easily.

Silver rolled his eyes and ordered Sneasel to use Slash and Croconaw to use Water Gun. "Just shut up. Do you ever stop talking?"

Blue was about to answer, but he was interrupted by a loud whoop from Lyra. "All right! Lava Plume!" Lyra roared, a grin touching her features. "Electrify it, Lumi!"

Lyra's companions had to duck for cover as Copper's back spewed great streams of lava at the opponents' Pokémon. Galvanized by one of Lumi's electric attacks, the hot stream of melting flames wiped out every Golbat. The two grunts controlling them returned them to their Pokeballs and ran screaming. Lyra cackled loudly and directed her Quilava and Mareep to assist Sneasel and Croconaw. Blue looked over to Silver and finally replied, "Well, no. By the way, are you sure she's not criminally insane?"

"I think it's more like that damned Quilava leads her to make shit life choices sometimes," Silver retorted.

Quickly, the remaining grunts were sent packing and it left Lyra, Silver, and Blue standing in the middle of the path to Mt. Silver in relative silence. With a quiet sigh, Lyra dropped onto a log nearby. "Man, this is kind of exhausting. Copper and Lumi, how are you two doing?"

"Awesome," Copper responded with an excited sneer.

Lumi frowned a little. "I feel quite odd, Miss Lyra. It is by no means a bad odd, but I feel—" she was silenced by a powerful glow emanating from her body. "Oh! I think I'm evolving! This is quite sudden!"

Silver watched coolly as the Mareep's glowing form stretched and morphed into the bipedal form of a Flaaffy. The light died away, and Lumi examined herself, a wondrous smile working its way onto her face. "Wow! I'm pink now!"

Silver rolled his eyes. Surely she had seen other Flaaffy before and knew that she would become pink. Silver and Blue watched Lyra and her newly-evolved Pokémon dance gleefully about. Her hair blazed russet in the sunlight and a pure sense of joy permeated her features. "But Silver, I'm gonna be honest here. If you don't date her I will," Blue said with a smile.

"You're like twenty-four! That's illegal as hell, like, _everywhere_!" Silver growled.

"He said date, not mate," Lyra commented vaguely from afar, examining the newly-evolved Lumi with a look of interest.

Blue and Silver exchanged horrified glances. "Uh…how…how much of that did you hear?" Blue asked her.

"Pretty much all of it," she replied airily, allowing Copper to clamber onto her shoulders. Lumi was now too big to sit on her Trainer or comfortably carried around and had to resort to walking. "Let's get moving. And quit yelling about everything. You'll attract attention."

Surely enough, he did. They only walked for another five or six minutes before a grunt showed up on her lonesome. She was a beautiful young woman, maybe in her early to mid twenties at oldest, and Silver noticed Blue's eyes roaming over her shamelessly. Lovely. "So…you're the ones causing all the problems, huh?" she said, glaring at them remorselessly.

Lyra rolled her eyes. "That's very funny. You guys have the Legendary birds in the mountain. I think that's a little more problematic."

The grunt's eyes widened. Pointing aggressively at Lyra, she demanded, "How did you know that?"

Silver figured Lyra was too honest to answer this question. He clapped a hand over her mouth and retorted, "Higher intelligence. Get out of the way. We're freeing them."

"No you're not!" The woman whistled loudly, and three Pokémon appeared: a Blissey, a Dragonair, and a Hitmonchan. What unusual choices for a Team Rocket grunt. She then released three more Pokémon that were also not normal Rocket choices. A Tyranitar roared loudly upon her release. At her side glared a Poliwrath, and sitting upon the Poliwrath's head was a Joltik, which Lyra made a noticeable squeal of adoration at the sight of. "W-what?! You're going to coo over the cuteness of Pokémon that will kick your ass?"

"Well, I'm going to feel bad whooping his, that's for sure," Lyra admitted with a quiet sigh. She ordered Lumi and Copper forward. "Copper, Lava Plume!"

And just like that, the battling was back in full swing.

* * *

Leaf looked upon the Legendary birds in horror. Why were they here? Moltres screeched in pain, trying to fight his way free of his bonds. The action rattled loose a stalactite, which crashed to the floor in the center of the various scientists milling about, logging data and taking measurements.

She drew back into the shadows as a male scientist walked past, chatting loudly via Pokegear with someone. "Yeah, yeah, they'll probably be ready for shipment by the end of the day. We've discovered the best place to install the chips…no, it isn't the safest way to do it, but they're tough. They'll probably get through it."

Chips? What chips? Leaf slipped back out of the cave. She had to contact Red or Blue. They needed to get their rears up here to deal with this.

* * *

"Why the fuck are there Ursaring swarming the camp?"

Red barely paid attention to the loud roars of people dealing with a rather sudden and unfortunate swarm of Ursaring that he _surely _had nothing to do with (he rubbed his fingers sadistically along the side of the tub of honey). Inside of the tent that had been vacated in the name of putting a stop to that completely unexpected hoard of Ursaring, Red rummaged through items and random sheets of paper scattered on tables and equipment.

He thought it was all junk. Some of the papers held half-baked meeting notes in shorthand he didn't understand framed in bad doodles of Pokémon and people. Others seemed to be recipes. There was even a piece of paper containing notes passed at a meeting, talking about how some scientist named John "never shut his damned mouth about his stupid tea".

However, one paper caught his eye. It seemed to be an engineering blueprint of some sort. He tugged it from of its pile, continued to ignore loud swearing concerning that utterly surprising group of Ursaring, and examined the blueprints. It seemed to be a series of rings meant for containment…but what kind of containment? The dimensions told him they were meant to hold large beings, obviously Pokémon of some sort. _But why these and not a Pokeball? _Red thought.

He felt his Pokegear buzz in his pocket, but he ignored it. Red leafed through more papers and stopped at one in particular. It was statistics and known information about Moltres. He continued flipping to find Zapdos and Articuno's papers stacked underneath.

What he noticed, on the information sheets, was that the measurements of the Pokémon matched the series of rings.

Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres…they had been missing for a while. What had they been up to in the time that Red had been gone?

"You! What are you doing in here? Help us drive away the Ursaring!" snapped a mustachioed grunt who poked his head in. "Quit slacking off!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Red stuttered, doing his best to look absolutely bewildered. "I'll get to work straight away!"

The grunt rolled his eyes and retracted his head from inside the tent, looking visibly ready to rip someone's head off.

Of course, when Red left the tent, he didn't get to work. He slipped back into the forest, donned his clothing from before, and left the strewn uniform on the floor littered with fallen foliage. It was time to see what was going on up at Mt. Silver.

* * *

This one grunt, with her Dragonair and Joltik, proved to be a larger problem for Lyra and her allies than the others. But not too large of one—it was a six minute battle this time instead of a five minute one. "Goddamn!" the grunt shouted, returning her fallen Pokémon. "What is with that Quilava of yours? Did his weird color give him some extra powers or something?"

"Just tell her I'm angry all the time and that works well for Fire Pokémon," Quilava responded blithely.

However, before she could talk, Silver stepped forward and demanded, "What are you doing with the birds?!"

"We're having fried bird sandwiches. What do you think?" she growled when Lyra yelped in horror. "Think about the fucking weaponization program! What better Pokémon are there to become tools of Team Rocket and Aether?"

Lyra wasn't shocked when Silver advanced on the grunt. "Don't support this bullshit," he snarled at her, looming over the woman who was likely a little older than him. "Get out of our way. You can't fight anymore without your Pokémon. Step aside and you won't get hurt."

Not at all to Lyra's surprise but much to her dismay, the grunt kneed Silver hard in the groin and shoved him to the ground, where he lay groaning in pain. She felt Mew giggle mentally; apparently the small pink Pokémon was quite sadistic. Presently, the grunt turned to Lyra and Blue, her eyes glinting dangerously.

Blue stared at her. "Woman, are you kidding me? I could burn you to a crisp with Arcanine! Are you really going to attack me?"

"I'm not gonna attack you! This stupid shit is Giovanni's son! He fucked us over!" the grunt growled. Turning on her heel, she marched off in the direction of Mt. Silver. "Now, if y'all will excuse me, I'm going to call in reinforcements to beat your loser asses to a pulp. Bye!"

Lyra scrambled over to Silver. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"My future children aren't," he squeaked. "They're either crying or dead."

Blue gazed after the grunt. "I'm sorry about your kids and all, Silver _Briccone_, but that lovely lady is about to get us in some deep trouble. So please fight through it so we can lose them in the woods!"

Lyra took Silver's hands and helped him to his feet, nearly toppling over herself in the process. She linked her arm around his waist to stabilize him; he looked about ready to collapse again. In her years spent around Ethan and other boys around Newbark Town, she knew that shots to that area were difficult to bounce back from quickly. It was such a massive shock to their systems. Her friend seemed to be no exception to that rule. Silver's knees shook, and he muttered, "Lyra, I'm going to fall on you and probably crush you. Get Blue to help me with this."

Lumi tottered to Silver's other side and pushed against his leg in an attempt to support him. The tall redhead seemed nonplussed by her actions. Lyra couldn't help but smile as she helped him stagger forward. "We'll be enough."

"You two better be; I'm not touching Giovanni's kid," Blue retorted in disgust. When Lyra glared at him, he ran a hand through his spiked hair and tossed the other one up in a "Who gives?" gesture. "I'm not touching _anyone. _I don't like touching people. Unless they're into me and I'm into them, and then there will be a LOT of touching."

"You're just making it worse," Copper groaned from Lyra's side. His trainer quickly relayed this to a cackling Blue as they stumped along as quickly as they could into the woods.

Lyra scanned around the forest when they entered. The growth here was old. Unlike the mouth of the path, this portion of the land surrounding Mt. Silver was fairly unaffected by the spatial rend. The thick-trunked trees seemed to perfect sort of place to hide, particularly when the grunts seemed to have a fairly short reaction time after a group was defeated. "Guys, let's get in the trees. We're not going to be able to outrun them, not with Silver barely able to walk."

"Not a bad idea," Blue decided aloud. Without much arguing, he leapt at the nearest tree and began to scramble up it. His Pidgeot, who had been out to battle the grunt who had kneed Silver so cruelly, ended up assisting his Trainer in his ascension.

Lyra chose a tree nearby. None of the branches were at a good height for her to climb up, but she was strong enough and agile enough to get herself up into the tree with relative ease. "Will you be okay to climb?" she asked him quietly.

"I'm going to suck it up and do it," he hissed through clenched teeth. Grabbing at a branch above his head, he gingerly pulled himself up. He held a hand down to Lyra. "Come on. You got me up earlier. I'm going to help you up now. "

Lyra blushed at his exceptionally earnest words and accepted his help, pushing her feet against the trunk and propelling herself up with a little help from Silver. "Thanks," she murmured. Their closeness irked her; it made her want to feel his body against hers. Blue teasing Silver about his attraction to her was cruel. If anything, he should have been teasing her, too, since she couldn't help but like him for all of his crotchetiness. Glancing upward, she noticed all of the empty branches overhead. Returning both Lumi and Copper to their Pokeballs, she said, "We better keep climbing. I don't think that we're exactly hidden when we're only like five feet off the ground."

"It's so obvious they'll just miss it," Silver retorted, making Lyra snort.

The two made it a good twenty-five feet into the branches of the trees when a pack of grunts was heard roaming by outside of the forest. They were not a joyous-sounding group of Rockets; the defeat of the chesty female grunt had obviously spurred a number of the grunts into action. Silver drew back against the trunk and tugged Lyra with him. "Don't just sit out in the middle of the branch; they'll see you out there like a sitting Ducklett," he whispered.

For the second time that day, Lyra found herself sitting between Silver's legs. This time, his arms weren't around her, and his legs didn't lock the girl into place. She didn't think too deeply upon it; this time, there were grunts roaming about. The thought of being caught by such a large group made her stomach churn; the last thing she wanted was to be captured when all she wanted to do was rescue the Legendary birds. A few grunts entered the woods, glanced around, and didn't bother to look up at the branches. With their drab clothing in the poor lighting, Lyra knew they would be hard to spot even if the grunts did look up, but she was still deeply nervous.

The sound of their voices grew steadily quieter and quieter as they drew further away, leaving Lyra and her companions to sigh in relief. She couldn't help but sag against Silver for a second. "Oh, thank goodness," she murmured to herself.

She felt Silver's chest rise and fall a little more erratically. Her presence made him nervous. "Lyra, we need to get down from here now."

"Just a moment. I'm a little tense," Lyra replied, resting against him.

Blue looked over at them and shook his head with a depraved grin. "You two are practically married."

Before either of them could object, essentially confirming his position, a Pokegear rang. Blue frowned and dug into his pocket, muttering, "That's either Leaf or Red, and I'm gonna assume it's not good. Neither of them _talk._"

Lyra watched as he picked up the phone. With a rather wry expression on his face, he answered, "Well, hello there." His wry expression quickly began to fade as whoever was on the other end began to talk. "That's not good," he said almost too quietly to hear.

_What is going on with the man? _Mew asked Lyra. She felt the Pokémon's velvety, invisible presence upon her shoulder, bumping into her cheek. _He seems pretty worried._

They waited until Blue hung up his Pokegear. "Well, you guys just keep proving that you're not crazy. My old friend Leaf is snooping around in the mountain. She says the Legendary birds are there, and they're not being kept in great conditions. There's also talk of installing 'chips' in them."

Silver's body tensed. "That's part of the new weaponization progress. When Mewtwo 'failed', they put these chips in them that force them to make mental bonds with others. It's not perfect, though, because while these Pokémon can be ordered around 100% of the time by someone who might not even have badges, they can also order the person back."

"That's kind of a big glitch," Blue commented.

Lyra shifted away from Silver and began to climb down. "Let's get to work. Those birds aren't going to save themselves; that situation is bad."

"Right." The boys also began to clamber down the tree.

Mew, still gracing Lyra's shoulder, whispered, _You're a good leader._

"Not really. People just listen to me," she breathed back.

_You kind of inspire them. You don't let things faze you. Keep it up. There are a lot of problems to be solved beyond a few pretty birds being kept in cages. _Mew's soft fur brushed by her cheek and then vanished.

Lyra pondered upon that as she descended. _There are a lot of problems to be solved beyond a few pretty birds being kept in cages. _What was that supposed to mean? Did Mew expect her to solve more problems beyond freeing the Legendary birds?

She was just a girl with an overpowered Quilava and a Flaaffy who had evolved a little over two weeks after capturing her. She had Silver on her side. She had a translator in her ear. What was she expected to do?

Lyra pushed the thoughts out of her mind for the time being. There were more important things to do right now than speculate over cryptic words spoken by a catlike Pokémon. Today, there was work to be done.

* * *

Leaf had situated herself behind a large column inside of Mt. Silver's waterfall cave. Here, no one could see her; wearing a dull stick suit and its hood to cover her light brown hair. There was no way should could take on all of the scientists in her cave with only six Pokémon. Team Rocket scientists, unlike their grunts, were not to be trifled with. Oftentimes they had powerful Psychic, Steel, and Poison Pokémon that the other grunts very rarely, if ever, possessed, and their intelligence led to brutal and highly effective battle styles. Leaf was not a great battler by any means; she had always been the one who quietly worked on the Pokedex, filling in hundreds of entries while Blue and Red ran around fighting anyone who as much as looked at them with a glint in their eye.

"Leaf," whispered a voice. She was startled into awareness by none other than the presence of Red, who quickly clambered up onto the ledge behind the column as well. "I know what they're doing in here."

"You just about gave me a heart attack," she murmured back, pressing her palm flat against her chest.

"They have the birds—"

Leaf cut him off. "I'm well aware. They're in that cavern. There are a lot of strong scientists in there. It will take more than us two to defeat all of them and free the birds. I called Blue. He's on his way, and something tells me he has some sort of ace in the hole. He had that _tone, _if you know what I mean."

For a while, they sat in silence, watching patrols go by. Scientists flitted in and out of the cavern that held the birds, and grunts wandered around below, speaking roughly to one another. Leaf watched as the patrols below slowly thinned; something was going on outside of the cave. Perhaps Blue was causing trouble?

"I may or may not have attracted about four dozen Ursaring to their camp with a powerful batch of honey," Red whispered to Leaf.

She smiled. "How is that going?"

"Oh, they tore apart a few tents," Red replied with a wry smile.

A loud shout of anger and agitation ripped through the cave. "What do you mean you lost track of the interlopers!? We have forty-five Ursaring that are _barely _under control and now there's a trio of _kids _running around wreaking havoc…oh, one of them is a _Gym Leader, _but what does it matter? Find them!"

"Trio of kids?" Red breathed.

"Obviously, we're not working on this alone. Let's wait for them to show up," Leaf whispered back.

They did a great deal of waiting. Leaf had started counting in her head and had reached 1,993 when a very familiar figure descended upon the mostly-emptied cavern. In their search for Blue and his companions and also to deal with that deeply unusual mob of Ursaring, the Rocket grunts had mostly disappeared from the cave. The few that were left did not notice a Gym Leader flying down to the basin of the waterfall on a Pidgeot. From the Pidgeot's claws hung a pair of teenagers. Leaf stood up and waved at Blue; he noticed and quickly flew over before he attracted attention from the grunts, who seemed to be rather curious about something happening outside of the cave.

Pidgeot deposited the kids on the rock ledge. The boy fell hard on his tailbone and bit back a cry of pain. The girl managed to fall onto her hands and knees and roll into it; she probably ached but not like her friend did. Blue hopped off after them and returned Pidgeot to his Pokeballs. "Hey guys. Nice to see everyone is still in one piece."

His comment was interrupted by a quiet gasp from the girl. She was most likely between the ages of fifteen and seventeen with an unevenly-cut bob. "Oh my gosh, are you Champion Red?" she asked Red in a hushed whisper.

He nodded slowly. "Yes. Who are you?"

"Um I-I'm Lyra, and I'm just a Trainer, and this is Silver, who doesn't like Team Rocket at all," she whispered, looking at the Trainer in awe.

The redheaded boy rubbing at his tailbone glared at Red. Leaf wondered why the boy looked so familiar; something in his features reminded her of someone fairly alarming. "How did this happen? You live up here, right? How did you let all of this Team Rocket scum take over?"

"I left for like a day. Roughly," Red replied.

Lyra raised her eyebrows. "One day and this happens?"

"Team Rocket is known for their efficiency," the boy, Silver, remarked.

Leaf pointed at the two kids who conversed with Red. "Uh, Blue? Who are these two and where did you pick them up from?"

"They were off fighting grunts around here, too. They knew all about the birds," Blue replied, frowning. "I think it's because Ginger there is Giovanni's kid, like fallen from grace or something, but Arceus knows."

Silver glanced quickly at Lyra and supplied, "I don't like Team Rocket. At all. What they do is wrong. So I'm working to fix the bullshit my dad puts out in the world."

Leaf couldn't help but feel sympathy for the young Briccone. She'd heard some questionable things about Giovanni, particularly where family was concerned. His wife—a redheaded scientist that was likely Silver's mother—had died mysteriously not long after the Pokémon Mansion was destroyed on Cinnabar Island. Even his mother, Madame Rocket, was thought to have died in a fairly suspicious way. A woman who had taken good care of herself for years, she died abruptly from a heart attack. His own son was thought dead as of two or three years ago, but here he stood, clearly alive and rather pissed at the world.

Lyra smiled at everyone, settling a hand soothingly on a bristling Silver's arm. "So. A Champion, a Gym Leader and lab assistant, and…" she paused when her eyes flitted to Leaf. After a moment's thought, she smiled wider. "Another lab assistant. You're Leaf, aren't you? My friend Kris talked about a lab assistant that looks like you who had the most _amazing _Pokedex."

"She's caught over half the known species in the world," Red commented.

Leaf couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. It was rare that anyone recognized her, if they even knew her at all. "It's nice to be recognized."

Silver cleared his throat. The sound was quiet, but it was enough to bring four pairs of eyes to him. "Look, it's nice to chat and all, but seriously. There are three Legendary birds suffering in there. We need to help."

"Well, let's get a plan together," Blue said, "and then let's get them out of here."

The group set to work planning. What they were about to do was dangerous and potentially they would fail, but it had to be done.

* * *

_A/N: Okay this isn't technically an author's note because I'm not the author HAHAHAHAHAHAHA yeah yo my name is Tamar and welcome to Jackass. Because seriously this story is basically the Pokemon version of jackass amirite?_

_I'm Mars's editor (usually for her original stories but sometimes for this "Fanfiction" she writes/occasional friend/devil on her shoulder and she would like me to tell you that though she went on vacation and loved every second of those creepy ass caves she loves going into she is still really fucking stressed and up to a lot of shit revolving around that class called AP Comp so I will be posting this chapter for her. She said to "have at it with the author's note" and thus I am going to undermine everything she stands for and promote nothing but JeanMarco yaoi (you know the ambiguous gays from Attack on Titan) but just kidding I would not do that to my innocent little Mars Bar._

_I will be honest and say that I have pushed her to write a lemon and also to write Oldrivalshipping but she is a loser and only ships it as a BROTP and also she is such a naive child and says she would not write a good lemon. _

_Leave some likes and reviews for Mars or something idk._

_K so I think my favorite idiot will be posting the next chapter whenever she completes this AP Comp bullcrap and can enjoy her summer once more and you won't have to deal with my inability to write anything but run-on sentences while not writing in a novel format soooooooooooo until next time stay thirsty my friends and do not copy any of the stunts performed on Pokemon Jackass._


	19. Liberation

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. You don't own Pokemon, either. Let's cry and talk about our feelings together.**

* * *

For a moment, Blue wondered why he so easily accepted the help of two kids—well, teenagers, and one of them was only two years younger than Leaf—so easily. The girl seemed familiar. She said her name was Lyra, and she knew Kris, one of Elm's better-known and more successful researchers. It occurred to him that he had pawned off some Ethan Hibiki kid on Chiyo Soul, who did bear some striking resemblance to this young woman. "Excuse me, but is your mom Chiyo Soul?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah…" her eyes faded a bit. She peered at Blue, searching his face quite seriously. Recognition lit up her face brightly. "Oh my gosh! I remember you! You were the person who dropped off Ethan at our house!"

"Shhh! Not so loud! Don't give them any reason to look back here!" Blue hissed at her, clamping a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.

Blue and the girl sat near the entrance of the cavern that contained Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, concealed by a strange cave formation that looked a bit like popping, oozing bubbles that had been petrified mid-burst. The pair had to wait to give Leaf and Silver, who lay submerged in waters close to the cave, the go-ahead to release Leaf's Onix. Earlier in the day, Leaf had decimated equipment on the upper levels with the help of her Onix. It would be good continuity if she released Onix into the cave to wreak havoc; surely Team Rocket had to be wondering where the Rock Snake Pokémon had gone by then. They were to wait until there was a long gap in the stream of grunts and scientists that constantly moved through.

Arceus knew where Red was. He'd simply said something about "cutting a few wires without a distraction" before disappearing into the darkest reaches of the cave.

Once Onix had been in there causing considerable damage, everyone would flood the cave, sweep the teams of the grunts and scientists before breaking the Legendary birds free. Of course, it would be easier said than done. Blue was accustomed to tasks of this nature; he had been dealing with Team Rocket for over a decade now.

Lyra gazed up at a dripping stalactite. She held her palm out to catch a drop and quietly said, "You know…this is carbonic acid falling from these stalactites."

"Acid?!" Blue wheezed, throwing up his hood to ward off such lethal drips.

She clapped her hands to her mouth and smiled at him with only her eyes. In a muffled whisper, she explained, "You drink carbonic acid in stuff. Like soda. It's usually pretty diluted but it's not really that dangerous. The stalactites and ceiling drip it because it's the stuff that forms caves…but only over very long periods of time. Don't be scared of it."

"You are a _terrible _person," Blue growled.

She shrugged casually in response and craned her neck to look at the ceiling, presumably at the stalactites. Lyra seemed oddly at home in caves and was perhaps fairly knowledgeable about them as well; he wouldn't have taken her for the type to become part of the Hiker Trainer class. Silently, he watched the flow of foot traffic coming through the cavern. It seemed to be tapering off; Red's stunt with the Ursaring must have had the Rockets confounded yet. He counted a minute; no one seemed to be coming through. Leaning out so that Silver and Leaf could see just one hand, he waggled his fingers at them.

"Did they see it?" Lyra questioned.

Moments later, a large, rocky tail swung over the top of the structure they were hiding behind. Onix rumbled low in her throat and disappeared into the cavern. "Clearly, yes," Blue replied, attempting to sound stoic and instead sounding vaguely hassled.

A faint roar of "What the hell?!" told Blue that Onix was doing her job perfectly. Blue gave one more hand signal to Leaf and Silver and then tugged at Lyra's forearm, telling her it was time to decimate the elites of Team Rocket and free the birds.

They waited for Leaf and Silver to get to shore before heading in. "I wonder where they've been keeping the birds for the past year," Lyra muttered with a frown. "If they haven't been weaponized, what have they been doing with them?"

"I think they were holding them for ransom. Silph Co. has actually bought back a few Legendaries from Aether and Team Rocket before at the right price. But three Legendaries at once? That's more than even they could afford," Blue retorted.

As Leaf and Silver clambered onto dry land, Blue stopped them from entering the cave for a moment by stepping in their path. In a heavy voice, he said, "Guys…seriously, be careful in there. I know that no one here except for Lyra has parents to go home to, but just don't die. Don't get hurt. This is an absolutely crappy time to have a funeral for a friend."

"That was _so _uplifting and energizing," Silver muttered. Lyra whacked his arm, silencing him.

Leaf, however, met Blue's gaze and nodded. "The same goes for you. Don't die. It'd break your grandpa's heart and probably make me want to revive you just to kill you again."

"That's…counterproductive, but I won't question it!" Blue decided. "Now, let's do this!"

Forgetting all about being quiet and clandestine, the four Trainers charged into the cave, releasing their Pokémon and attacking the first lab-coated, black-uniformed people they laid eyes on.

* * *

It was still fairly painful for Brendan to be in the Hoenn Pokémon League building, but at the same time, he was so glad to see his friends again and also meet a few new ones. Darkrai seemed to be more comfortable here, openly shadowing May and asking her questions. One of the newcomers, Serena, the Kalosian Champion seemed particularly fond of Darkrai as well. Brendan had commented that she and Sidney would get along well in their fascination with Dark-type Pokémon, a sentiment that Serena ended up waving off quite quickly. "I have met him once. It is all we have in common."

For a time, he almost forgot how conflicted and angry Aurora was. The young woman had to be restrained and locked in Phoebe's old room along with that Shaymin she had control over. Likewise, Cruz, who had been defeated and spirited away, had been kept in separate quarters: Drake's old room. Brendan found this strange; the Admin almost seemed detached from the organization they had studied science in for so long.

"Brendan." He looked up to see two of the newcomers, White and Serena, approaching him as he sat gazing out the window in the vestibule of the League building. It was unusual to see them together without N and May respectively, so he couldn't help but wonder what the two women needed from him.

White dropped into the chair across from him, dragging her hair out of her face. "So, we have a few questions for you about the two girls we brought in."

"Cruz isn't a woman," Brendan responded automatically.

Serena, who stood awkwardly to the side, seemed to wave this away. "The girl that we are talking to, the one named Aurora…she is in disagreement with herself."

"Disagreement?" Brendan questioned.

"Well, we got her to talk, mostly by scaring her with Yveltal's presence," White said, glancing at Serena, "and she has a lot going through her head. She hates Aether; they've caused the spatial rends and all of that to start. But she also can't help but agree with them for wanting to kill Groudon and Kyogre; they completely decimated your region. She also really hates you for not catching them while you could."

Brendan was aware of the latter bit of information and fairly attuned to the first bit, but the combination of all three swamped him like a tidal wave. "That's a lot of anger and hatred for one girl to have," he decided to say.

"The other woman, Cruz—"

Brendan massaged his temples. "Cruz isn't a woman. Use pronouns like 'they' for them."

Serena and White exchanged looks. The Kalosian girl leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table in between Brendan and White, and he caught a powerful whiff of lavender-scented shampoo. "This person, Cruz, claims that there is a surgery that Legendaries undergo to become weaponized. Latios, Darkrai, Shaymin all have chips in them."

"That's true. If you can get Darkrai away from May for a while, you could totally talk to him about that. He's kind of in it for himself, I think," Brendan replied. "If you guys are looking to help him, he'll definitely help you."

As he responded, no one other than May and Darkrai showed up. May was giving a rare, content smile, explaining something to the Pitch-Black Pokémon with her hands jammed almost self-consciously into her pockets. After a second, she realized she was interrupting something in the vestibule. "Oh. Sorry. We'll go talk somewhere else."

"No, no, this is actually good timing. You two come over here," White said, waving them over.

May and Darkrai came to the table and stood beside Serena, looking a bit apprehensive. "What do you need?" May asked quietly.

"Darkrai, can you explain the nature of the chips to us? Cruz only gave us fairly vague details, and she—they—looked pretty morose about it all," White said, raising her eyebrows slightly at the Legendary.

_It essentially forces the electric stability of a Legendary's brain to become reliant on a connection they make with another being. It's kind of terrible, really. I constantly have to hear Brendan's thoughts and feelings and, quite frankly, he sounds like a protagonist from that one pretentious robot anime, _he said, rolling his eyes.

Brendan snorted. "Yeah, and you're always thinking 'Wow, May is cool', so we both have some dirt on each other."

White pinched the bridge of her nose. Slowly, she requested, "Guys, I don't care about that. Please explain the chip as well as you can."

Darkrai folded his arms over his chest and began to explain, _Well, think of it this way. Your brain needs charges so that you form brain connections and retain them. With that chip in the way, without a connection, our brain signals are interfered with. It hurts. We can't think right. We don't want to be connected to some stinking human, but we are, anyway. I mean, at least Latios and Shaymin got cool people out of this. I'm stuck with Brendan, who might as well be Shinji—_

"Okay, first off, why do you know what anime is?" May asked.

_A man gets bored while making and feeding off of nightmares, so he feels the need to channel-surf, _Darkrai replied, his eyes portraying a flinty smirk.

White, however, seemed more troubled by the other part of his explanation. "So…I'm kind of science-y here…but, um…wouldn't that kill you eventually? If your connections are no longer running right, it would be like early-onset Alzheimer's. Like in that one I know the brain deteriorates in ways but if the connections are no longer there—"

_I essentially enter a zombie state at first. I can't think for myself. My cerebral cortex will no longer function, and thought will die, _Darkrai responded. _It would spread to the rest of my brain, and then I'd die. Basically, having this chip in me and being paired with Brendan is staving off the toxic nature of this chip. _

May looked at him in horror. "Are you serious?" she asked, her voice sounded unusually distraught. "That's absolutely awful."

Brendan gazed at the Legendary. His stomach hurt. Why was it always his stomach? Why couldn't it be some other part of his body for once? "Darkrai, that's really awful."

_Aether has to be stopped, _Darkrai growled, his eyes snapping to Brendan's, _and they need to be stopped soon. I'm not sure that you all knew this, but Arceus has abandoned the world. Without him, the more they do to anger the Legendaries, the more likely Palkia and the rest of the Legendaries are to destroy things._

Brendan stared at his hands, clenched on the edge of the table. "That's our plan. We want to stop them."

_They need to be stopped soon, _Darkrai hissed, getting in Brendan's face. _Before it all goes to Hell for us. _

"We will stop them," Serena said quietly. All eyes snapped to her as she very grimly explained, "I know that they have my grandmother and my dear friend Calem working for them. They have Xerneas as well. They may have put that chip inside of Xerneas already, and Life herself could become nothing more than a pawn of some organization."

White rose from her chair. "I'm going to talk to Steven and N. We need more answers than what we currently have, especially from Cruz. Aether needs to be done, and then we need to get Arceus back. Once that's all done, you're all invited to my wedding. You all can even be in my wedding party." Brendan must have looked particularly confused, because White smiled. "I'm engaged. N is my fiancé."

Darkrai's mood seemed to lighten a little at this. With clear jest in his tone, he asked, _Am I invited?_

"Well, there's already a section for Legendaries," White said with a smile. More to reassure herself than anything else, she added, "It will be the coolest wedding you've ever seen and our marriage will be the one everyone wishes they had." Steeling herself, she trotted out of the room, ready to look for her fiancé and N.

May's lips pressed into a thin, stern line. In a grave voice, she announced, "We're gonna save the world, right? And also get these chips out of the Legendaries?"

"Of course," White declared.

Brendan nodded. "We have to."

May turned to Darkrai and, much to everyone's surprise, she threw her arms around him. Darkrai wasn't quite sure how to respond as May said, "I'm so sorry about what they did to you."

_It's…okay? _Darkrai responded, patting her back awkwardly.

Brendan stretched and sighed. There was a great deal of work to be done. Perhaps he needed to convince Cruz to speak up and give away some important information in order to save the world. Standing up, he said his goodbyes to White and May. He ordered Darkrai to come with him.

The Legendary groaned loudly. _Why me?_

"You explained it well. Now please just help me for once, all right?" Brendan pleaded, meeting the Pokémon's glowing blue eyes.

Darkrai shrugged. _I guess._

The reluctant pair sought out the room Cruz was being kept in. It was time to get some of the information they needed in order to tame the madness of the world.

* * *

Battling scientists and admins was not like battling grunts. Lyra had to keep her eyes on Copper and Lumi, for battling Pokémon like high-leveled Kadabra, Magneton, and Pokémon that were not at all native to this region. With Leaf at her side and Silver and Blue off taking on a trio of disgruntled scientists, she faced off with a slouchy admin with lavender hair and a matching goatee and a debauched expression and a female scientist with sharp features.

The admin had unleashed a cloud of Weezing, while the scientist commanded a Magnezone, a Liepard, and a Crobat. Lyra frowned a little at that; Golbat couldn't evolve into Crobat without love and affection, and Team Rocket wasn't quite known for their love and affection.

Leaf commanded her six Pokémon fearlessly. She definitely was not a seasoned battler and seemed uncomfortable, but her Pokémon were certainly formidable. Her Magmortar and Jolteon seemed very accustomed to working together. They reminded her of Copper and Lumi. "Watch for what they do," Lyra commanded them. "They seem to have a similar battle style."

"Right!" Copper replied, spewing lava from his back. Lumi loaded it with a paralyzing shock and sprayed the Weezing. They were clearly high-leveled, as no Pokémon were smashed with a one-hit KO as usual.

Lyra felt Speckle's Pokeball shake in her pocket. _She can't battle yet, _she thought to herself. _She's just a baby and these Pokémon are trained killers._

Mew's voice entered her head. _Protect that Pokémon at all cost. She is so rare. There are exactly two hundred Pokémon of the Togepi line left in the world._

Lyra's eyebrows lifted as she commanded Lumi to use Thunder Wave to protect another Pokémon of Leaf's, Fearow, from getting blasted by a Dark Pulse attack from Liepard. "Can't mess that up, then," she muttered.

"Duck!" shouted Silver from where he and Blue took on their opponents. Lyra dropped to her knees as none other than a Noivern, like one of the swarm that had attacked them on the bridge just the day before. Lyra glanced around; there was a trio of Noivern…and they seemed to be under the command of none other than Silver's aunt Ariana, who stood on a ledge high above the melee below. How had she gotten here? Why was she even here? Oh, Lyra was simply seething at this woman's presence!

"Oh, that witch," Lyra growled to herself. "Trying to distract us."

_Don't do anything rash, _Mew warned her.

Lyra turned to Copper. "Hey. You. You're under your own control for a bit. Protect Lumi; she's not as strong as you."

Copper gave her an odd look, but he complied with a crisp nod. Lyra turned to face the Noivern, who had landed on a ledge nearby with a chilly, condescending expression. She marched toward the Pokémon, leaving a rather confused Leaf in her wake, and boomed, "Hey! You! You should feel awfully bad! You just swooped at _people!_"

The Noivern seemed nonplussed by the girl's shouting. "You're that offended?" The Pokémon questioned. This Pokémon was a female, and she had a surprisingly soft, friendly voice for such a fearsome-looking creature. "I thought you kind of knew what you were getting into, picking fights with Team Rocket and all," she added.

Lyra tapped on her translator in her ear, as she had encountered some static, before retorting, "Well, what about you? Do you even have a Pokeball? Do you have to go dive-bombing humans? Is that necessary?"

"Technically no," Noivern responded, frowning. "We just kind of…travel in a flock. And that Ariana woman feeds us and gives us Rare Candies if we do what she asks us. It's just my mom and dad worked with her and I was born into this a few years ago." Scratching at her head with her claw, she eyed Ariana with a bit of a confused expression. "What am I doing here? I mean, they're not here anymore. Dad passed recently and Mom kind of comes and goes as she chooses, and she's not really around much."

Lyra wasn't quite sure that she meant to give the Noivern an existential crisis, but that was precisely what she had managed to do. "Um…are you…okay?"

"Give me a moment," The Noivern replied, sadness crossing her features. "I…I realized this isn't necessary."

"What the hell," Lyra couldn't help but mutter to herself.

What the hell indeed, for as she worried about Noivern's mental state, she was dive-bombed by a different Noivern. "Excuse you!" Lyra shouted, flattening herself on the ground fairly quickly.

This Noivern was clearly older and male. He glared at Lyra as he hovered before her. "I will destroy you," he snarled in a deep voice.

"Hey! She's just trying to help me sort some things out!" The female Noivern growled, flapping her wings cantankerously.

"She can't if I bite her head off!" The male snarled.

Lyra found herself backing away from the arguing Pokémon quite quickly. The male noticed and took off after her. Gasping, the female fired a Dragon Pulse attack at him that distracted him for long enough that Lyra could return to Leaf's side.

Leaf had swept through the scientist's Pokémon by this point and was now focusing on the Weezing. "How did that work out for you?" she asked Lyra quietly.

"They're fighting each other, not me. But I think I may have caused one of them to do something horrible."

"What?"

"Think," Lyra replied as she ordered Copper to pelt the Weezing with Swift and Lumi to use Thunder Shock on one that was drifting too close to her for her own liking.

Leaf snorted. Very quietly, to a point that Lyra almost couldn't hear her, she said, "Red is cutting the cords to the device that's powering those rings. Don't look."

She simply nodded in response. It wasn't long before they defeated the grunt and the admin before getting attacked by new opponents; three scientists and a tall, thin man with blue hair. They released a cloud of Pokémon, and Leaf and Lyra quickly got to work subduing them. Lyra felt Mew leave her side and turn into none other than a Tyranitar that launched boulders and crunched opponents in her jaw. Leaf didn't question her presence; she merely seemed grateful.

"Copper, Lumi, combine Lava Plume and Thunder Wave! Wipe out those—" Claws clamped hard around Lyra's shoulders, and she was dragged off the ground. It was the male Noivern, and he seemed none too happy with Lyra's intrusion. "HEY! PUT ME DOWN!"

"Blue, keep these assholes under control!" She noticed Silver dropping what he was doing to run after the Noivern, who lifted her savagely into the air. His talons dug into her shoulders, ripping her stick suit and drawing deep lines of blood. The sharp appendages had sunken cleanly into the skin of her shoulders and collarbones.

She grimaced and struggled in his grip. "I said put me down, you jerk!"

"No. You've pissed me off. I don't think so," the Noivern sneered.

Lyra wriggled harder, but the move made his talons dig past the skin of her shoulders and into the muscle. With a loud cry of pain, she hissed, "Stop it!"

"Lyra!" Silver ran along below, shoving past confused and alarmed scientists. His Sneasel caught up with him, and that was when the redhead ordered, "Ice Beam! Take that fucker down!"

Noivern was slammed hard with the Ice Beam; frost coated his scaly skin and threatened to immobilize his massive wings. His talons tore messily from her shoulders as he screamed in agony. Lyra found herself falling; the mammoth cavern had the great, arching height of a cathedral, and the Noivern had carried her a good fifty feet in the air. Silver cursed loudly and rushed toward her. "Ice Beam again, Sneasel! Get her a ramp to fall down!"

Before she fell far, her injured shoulder rammed into hard ice, knocking the wind out of her, and she slid down the icy ramp formed by Sneasel's Ice Beam. She slid to the end, where Silver thankfully caught her. He seemed alarmed, particularly by the gory wounds that festooned her shoulders. "Damn it! I didn't think he'd drop you; I just think it'd make him fall a bit! I'm sorry!" he snarled, tightening his grip on her. "Arceus damn it all."

"Silver," Lyra murmured, clamping her hands over her bleeding wounds and observing a trio of scientists approaching, "make Sneasel use Ice Beam again. There are some scientists running at us."

"Ice Beam," he ordered without even looking back at the scientists. He kept his eyes, filled with both concern and frustration, on the girl in his arms. Sneasel coated the floor in front of them with sheer ice, and the scientists quickly toppled over. "Ice Beam again," Silver ordered, a strange coldness to his features.

Lyra simply watched as Sneasel immobilized his enemies from head-down in a blanket of ice. Then, she tipped her head sideways against Silver's chest as he held her in a bridal-style carry and closed her eyes. Her body was a throbbing ache. She needed a moment to collect herself. "Thanks for not letting me die," she whispered.

"That Noivern doesn't look like he'll be flying for a while. Ariana just went to go bitch at him for not killing you," Silver described to Lyra. His tone was rather soothing; why did he sound so calm and caring? Did she truly look that bad? "Honestly, I'm really glad you're okay right now."

"If 'okay' means not dead, then yes," Lyra replied with a pained smile.

A loud clatter of metal drew the attention of just about everyone and anyone in the cavern toward the Legendary birds. Zapdos's set of rings had collapsed. The large yellow bird rose to his feet, surprised by the freedom, and screeched loudly. "Oh hell! Someone subdue it!" crowed a scientist.

Lyra smiled as Zapdos took flight; the room rippled with thunder. "What a beautiful Pokémon," she murmured into Silver's chest.

"Y-yeah," he replied, and Lyra could practically feel his smile as the bird swooped upon the scientists' Pokémon. "He's something else."

"Someone's cutting the cables! Stop them!" snapped the thin, blue-haired man. "They'll free the other two!"

It was a bit late for that, as a second set of rings collapsed, releasing Articuno. He immediately blasted an impending swarm of Magneton with a Blizzard attack that left them frozen in thick blocks of ice. Silver slowly lowered himself into a sitting position. He pushed Lyra across his legs and said, "I'm going to bandage your shoulders."

"How?" she asked, watching as the rings around Moltres began to slow in their revolutions. "You can't exactly rip off my stick suit in public."

Silver sighed. "It's badly damaged, Lyra. I'm probably going to end up tearing parts of it away to get to the cuts, okay? Don't you dare freak out on me now."

Rings clattered to the ground as Silver tore the stick fabric open along both shoulders. Moltres was free. Fire swirled through the cavern shamelessly, evoking screams of terror from the Rockets. She heard a different sort of fabric ripping, but she was no longer paying much attention. Her eyes closed; everything hurt so badly. Yet, with heavy eyelids, she found herself already passing through the pain and finding some comfort in the darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

Palkia heard footsteps. He knew who they belonged to, but he didn't care to turn around to greet her.

A moment of silence stretched awkwardly over Spear Pillar. Not only was it awkward—it was uneasy. They both knew what was coming, but neither sibling wanted to acknowledge that it was going to happen.

Yet, it was Dialga who broke the silence. _You didn't honor my request._

Palkia slowly shook his head, refusing to look at his sister. He didn't care to see her face with what was about to come. She sighed, and he heard the loud whirring of some Dragon-type attack. _Palkia, you are giving me no choice. You are harming the world. I have to stop you._

Drawing in a pained breath, Palkia turned, flashing claws that glimmered with the purple energy of dragons. _I'll fight you until one of us breathes our last breath, _Palkia growled. _I can't believe you're siding with them. The ones who have hurt so many of us._

Dialga scowled at him and hissed, _The actions of a few are outweighed by the good of the rest! On the other hand, you are out of control! _

Without anymore prelude or conversation, Dialga fired that attack. The Dragon Pulse flamed against the pale blue sky.

There was no turning back now.

Brother fighting sister in a battle that could decide the fate of the world…it was simply a sign of the times.

* * *

_A/N: Hello. Once again, it is I, halfcurehalfdisease. Mars. Not Tamar. I hope you guys all viewed her in a fairly favorable manner; it was either Tam updated or I would've double-posted tonight, but I wanted to get a update out since I had returned from a vacation. I really do apologize for the gap between two updates ago and the last update. I don't like taking that long to post in the summer._

_So caves are really cool, guys. Like super cool. I love caves. I need to spend more time in them; I need to go spelunking and take cave tours more; that stuff is so fun. Also the fun of caves was diminished by the thought of cramming the week's AP work into like a three day span. That wasn't fun. But after all that work I only have two more assignments left to do for Comp. Yay._

_And no, May and Darkrai aren't in love or anything. May is just a Pokenerd and Darkrai is a super cool Pokemon. Darkrai enjoys her rather salty attitude. In the end, a friendship is born._

_I'm surprised that Silver hasn't kissed Lyra by this point. My god is this even a fic of mine if it doesn't have one kiss before chapter 20? We'll see how their relationship unfolds..._

_I did a title drop. I couldn't help it. I had to do it somewhere. ;A;_

_Also, in regards to last chapter, I can't help but make bear jokes but Pokemon style. Ursarings. Hoards of Ursaring._

_Soon, Kris will show up again. I promise. And what has Ethan been up to? It is a mystery..._

_Once again, I'm purposefully not saying much about the Sinnoh because of plot reasons. I'm not giving away the whole plot of this story for the sake of placating a few very nervous readers. It'll be okay, guys. I promise. You'll find out._

_So...leave a review, if you'd like. Favorite it. Follow it. Write angrily in your diary about it. Until next time, remember not to attract bears to your yard by slathering everything in honey. Red is an idiot and you don't want to be like him._


	20. Momentum

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I do not train Pokemon. In fact, I cannot even think about Pokemon. I am living in a Unova ruled by Team Plasma. Send help.**

* * *

The sky above Cerulean City seemed blue for the first time in ages to Misty. Shoving her thick orange hair behind her ears, she stood in front of her Gym with Kris by her side. She refused to put down Starmie. How had she managed without her beloved Starmie for so long? Though the Pokémon weighed almost as much as she did, she refused to put it down. Nuzzling her face against her Pokémon's chest gem, she beamed. "I've missed this Pokémon so much, Kris. You have no idea. I'm so glad you helped me get my best friend back."

Kris smiled at her, but the other girl's smile was wan. Misty frowned, shifting Starmie onto one hip, which the Pokémon protested against crossly. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"I'm glad I could help you and all, but I came to the Kanto to search for my missing sister," Kris replied with a sigh, gazing off into the distance.

Misty frowned. "Missing sister?"

"This redheaded prick abducted my foster sister—Lyra, the one I talk about all the time—about two weeks ago. He took her somewhere in this region, and I'm trying to track her down. I think I might've mentioned it once, but you were pretty upset, so I don't expect you to remember," Kris replied, shuffling her feet uncomfortably.

Misty felt her cheeks burn in shame. She had just kept a girl from protecting her sister? "God, men are awful," Misty snarled, trying to hide her embarrassment at her selfishness. Setting her Starmie down reluctantly, she folded her arms across her chest and puffed out her cheeks, looking at the bright blue sky in lieu of looking at her newfound friend. "Well, do you know what this redheaded kid's name is?" she questioned.

"Uh, well, his name is Silver Briccone," Kris replied.

Misty paused. Giovanni's son? Wasn't there some rumor going around that Giovanni's son had died in yet another dubious way that people related to the kingpin seemed to leave this Earth? Apparently that was not the case. Years ago, when the entire Briccone family was alive and Giovanni was simply thought to be a Gym Leader, she'd met the redheaded boy when his father had come to what was then her sister's Gym on business matters. She remembered Silver; he was about her age, give or take a few years. He wasn't a bad kid; he was just quiet and…vulnerable. In an attempt to get him to talk, Misty had made one joke about how long his red hair was and he'd yelled at her and nearly cried. Had he really gone wayward? She couldn't imagine a kid who had cried about her attempting to point out his pretty red hair. "I met him. As a kid. I'm having a bit of trouble connecting the kid I met to that guy," Misty replied.

"Well, he's not a complete dick. I think he was trying to protect her, honestly," Kris replied with a sigh. "Our foster brother, Ethan…well, he used to be a good kid. But long story short, he became a douche and was kind of a threat to both Silver and Lyra's safety. Silver took her and teleported, and so I'm trying to track them both down. I want to bring Lyra home, and I want to tell that Silver guy to get the hell out of here," he replied.

Misty tried to digest this. Starmie tugged at the leg of her stick suit, trying to get attention. She patted one of its top arms and slowly said, "I want to help. You got Starmie back for me. I'll help you get this sister of yours, Lyra, back."

"Misty, you don't have to," Kris hastily answered, her eyes clouded with uncertainty. "I don't even know where to look. This region is so big and Lyra could be anywhere. I'm not dragging you into that."

Scoffing, Misty tossed her short orange hair. "Well, we're going to just have to look pretty damned hard, aren't we?"

At that moment, a loud rumbling was heard—and felt. The ground beneath their feet shook, but it seemed as though the air itself was quivering angrily. Both girls looked to the sky to see a strange purple distortion. Two large Pokémon, dragons of some sort, shot out of it while entangled in combat, and disappeared into a deep blue one that opened up behind them. It was left there even after they were gone, hanging ominously against the naturally bright sky. "What the fuck," Misty whispered, gaping at the sky.

Kris grabbed at her arm. "That was Dialga and Palkia. I recognize them from my research books—"

"I know that!" Misty tugged her arm away and clenched her fists; the blood rushing to her hands would have to leave her head that throbbed with each pulse of her heart. "Do you know what this means? This is probably the beginning of the end! They're gonna tear us apart!"

Kris's eyes became wide. Her breath hissed as she exhaled, and then she inhaled quite slowly. Misty was worried; she hadn't really seen her lose composure. Around Proton she'd been annoyed, but not…frightened. Conflicted. Angry. Gesturing toward the sky, she shouted, "Hey! Really! You assholes! I can't believe you! I'm trying to find Lyra and you decide to end the _world?_" She jammed her palms into her eyes, rubbing viciously at them.

"Kris—" Misty began, but the girl with blue hair whirled, malice glittering coldly on her features. She snarled, "I can't find the most important member of the only family I really have and _they pull this shit?_ Screw that!" She released her Fearow. "I'm going after these sons of bitches. Misty, do take care of your city."

"Kris, wait—" The girl took off on her Fearow, approaching the strange blue portal in the sky rapidly.

Misty could only stare in disbelief as the portal swallowed her up like the ocean swallows a sinking ship. "That…" she trailed off, and then hissed, "That is SO stupid. Who even pulls that shit?! Kris, you're a dumbass!"

Turning tail, she marched toward the gym furiously. If the world was finally ending, she didn't have time for idiots. She was going to play with her Pokémon and maybe call her sisters if none of them were lazing around in the Gym. Screw the dumbass, anyway.

* * *

It was a faint rumble, really. Nothing more than the smallest of shakes, but it was enough to stir Aurora into awareness. The young lady had fallen asleep at the table inside of this Pokémon League room; Shaymin was flitting about nearby, chirping in peril. "What is going on?" she muttered, sitting up to stretch.

_Something is very, very wrong, _Shaymin groaned. In her nervousness, she lost her leggier form and suddenly became her small, grassy-backed self. Aurora absent-mindedly caught her as she dropped to the ground, frowning at the room. The lights were flickering. What were her captors up to?

The rumbling and flickering quit, and so Aurora asked, "What do you mean by wrong?"

Shaymin squeaked and tore herself free of Aurora's arms, darting to the door. She attempted to summon roots once more to rip the door way, but the hard metal floors blocked the Pokémon's power. It was probably why they were being kept in his large room in this building. _Aurora, this is awful. Dialga and Palkia…they are fighting. They will destroy what is left of my beautiful green Earth!_

Aurora darted over to Shaymin. She could hear her heart pounding ruthlessly in her ears; it felt as though her stomach had not only dropped to her feet, but it had descended to the molten core of the planet. "This can't be happening," she moaned, scooping the frightened and desperate Pokémon onto her shoulders. "We've gotta get out of here." Bracing herself, she snarled and kicked at the door. The metallic automatic door didn't even shake. Her hip jarred from impact, Aurora stood cringing on her good leg.

Shaymin eyed her with a flat expression. _Did you really think that was going to work?_

"Well, I don't know! You can't use your roots and whatnot all that well in here, so I gotta try something!" Her hip seemed to have stopped aching, so she once again braced herself for a kick.

The minute she kicked was the minute someone slid open the door. Her foot connected with thin air, and Aurora toppled to the floor face-first. Shaymin swore at her in the Pokémon language. "Aurora? What is it that you were doing?" asked none other than Serena, the Kalosian girl who smelled vaguely like nutmeg.

Aurora growled, "Do you not feel the shaking? We need to get out of here!"

"I came to get you out, but I see that you were already attempting to get yourself out," Serena said coolly. Nonetheless, she helped the girl to her feet. "Dialga and Palkia seem to be fighting. Steven's Pokenav does not stop ringing because of it. We will be moving our operations to the underground chambers."

"What if the roof falls in or something?" Aurora demanded.

"Underground is the safest place to be when there are rumbles, as long as we are far underground," Serena responded. Aurora started to get up, and she was stopped by the Kalosian Champion. Handcuffs were snapped around her wrists. "I apologize for these. But when you were free last time, you tried to strangle Brendan."

She rolled her eyes and let the Kalosian Champion lead her away. "He's such a piss baby."

They made it into the vestibule of the Pokémon League not long after this. Everyone else was there, including a free Cruz who sat on the counter of the abandoned healing desk and stroked Latios's feathered head. The whole building was shaking.

She saw Brendan leaning against the wall nearby, eyes closed in exhaustion, next to White and N. He had shaved the beard and put the white-knit hat that was his iconic trait back on his head. Suddenly he looked younger, maybe even her age, although she knew he was twenty-one. Yet, it was easier to hate him like this; it made him look the dumbass who had ruined everything, who had made all of the mistakes that led up to this—

"Aurora." She noticed that he had looked up, meeting her gaze. Gesturing at the shaking ceiling, he demanded, "Do you see it now? Do you see what killing Legendaries leads to? Do you see what weaponization leads to? We're going to be killed ourselves. Do you really want to go out there and kill Kyogre and Groudon now? Do you really want to help Aether?"

Aurora simply stared at him as he peeled away from the wall and ignored her. He began a conversation with Steven, as if he hadn't just snapped at her. Her heart sank at the realization that he had a point; whether or not Brendan had refused to catch the Weather Trio back in the day, what did matter was that Legendaries were still being abused. Palkia would continue to tear everything apart with his spatial rends, and Dialga would…well…do whatever it was a Temporal Pokémon did. Without Arceus to stop it, they were doomed.

"Come on," called May, opening a hidden door on the other side of the room. Darkrai was at her side, not Brendan's. Aurora found this odd. "This leads into some sectioned-off caves in Victory Road. We'll be below damage level."

The group scurried to the door as the rumbling grew more furious. Palkia and Dialga were clearly going at it out there, and it was time to get down below ground level to stay safe.

Aurora felt a vague sense of shame bubble in her as they descended into the cool darkness. Shaymin nuzzled her cheek, as if to tell her to cheer up. A dark seed had already been planted and had started to germinate; there was no point in fighting other people and Pokémon over differentiating ideals. It was time to stop acting as an enemy and time to band together with everyone else to survive and potentially end this.

* * *

Lyra woke up to disturbed, frantic whispers. Barely awake, she had a difficult time grasping at words; what were they talking about?

She caught "Palkia" and "doom". Wasn't that just cheery? Lyra attempted to sit up, but she was tightly wrapped in blankets for starters, and her back and shoulders seemed to be a rippling column of pain. She opened her eyes and gazed down at her chest to see Copper, Lumi and Mew curled up there. Speckle was nestled to the side of her head, chirruping excitedly to see that her human mother was awake. Lyra smiled at Speckle. "Hey, shhh, it's okay," she soothed, craning her neck to kiss the Pokémon's face. "I'm okay. I'm awake"

Lyra turned her head to observe her surroundings. She had no idea where she was; there was a window overlooking cold, barren fields of…snow? It was the summer! Where had the snow come from? The room was cramped, small, and stuffy, swathed in tawdry old fabrics and carpeted with none other than harvest gold shag carpet. Lyra assumed that the stuffiness would be manageable if she could wriggle out of the blanket, but she was too weak to do so at the moment. Aside from her Pokémon—and also, surprisingly, Silver's Sneasel sleeping at the foot of her bed, she was alone in the room.

The voices she heard from the next room, though, told her that there were more people than just Silver and her in this house. She heard Mewtwo's voice for sure—he hadn't even chipped in to help out at Mt. Silver—and then Blue's. Red and Leaf had to be here, too.

The question was…where was here? And what was going on?

Lyra groaned and once again tried to wriggle free of the blanket. The action startled her Pokémon awake. Copper and Lumi sprang off of her, and Mew shook herself awake. _Lyra. You're all right, _she said, her eyes sparkling happily. She planted a fuzzy kiss to the girl's forehead. Copper and Lumi quickly followed suit, showering their beloved friend and Trainer with affection. Lyra laughed weakly, managing to free one arm so she could pull her Pokémon into an embrace. "I'm sorry for making you all worry," she said, bittersweet tears venturing to her eyes. The affection was so much to take after being awake for less than three minutes.

Copper licked them away. "Don't cry over this. You're awake and alive, so we're happy."

Lumi patted her hair soothingly. "There's no need to be upset right now."

"I'm not upset, I'm just…a little overwhelmed," she said, smiling tearfully and rubbing away at more tears that threatened to spring loose.

Mew noticed her predicament with the blanket and used her psychic powers to unravel it. _You may not want to look at your shoulders right away. I had to knit the muscle back together; you weren't awake, but even then you were screaming from pain. I had to leave the skin to heal._

Lyra sat up, reveling in the bareness of her unclothed skin, and immediately looked at her shoulders. She blanched; the translucent gauze wrapping her shoulders was bloodstained. The Pokémon's front talons had torn long, dual marks on each side of her shoulders.

_There's some on your back, too, _Mew replied. _Lower back. They have talons on their hocks and they dug into you._

The more they talked about it, the deeper the throb she felt in her body. "This is insane. One Pokémon did all this damage to me?" Lyra whispered.

Copper nodded gravely. Then, he swatted at her callously. "You got yourself hurt because you thought we couldn't handle a measly trio of bat-dragons!"

"I'm sorry!" Lyra yelped as the Pokémon berated her for choices that were made in the moment.

The talking ceased outside. Footsteps approached the door, and Lyra quickly brought the sheet up to her chest, covering her nudity.

The door swung open to none other than Silver, who stood in the doorway with guarded eyes. His red irises were dulled by the itchy redness that infiltrated the whites of his eyes, and his mouth was set in a grim line. However, the minute he saw that she was awake and bright-eyed, some of the tension dispersed from his expression. He entered the room and quietly said, "Copper, Lumi, all you guys…leave the room for a bit."

The Pokémon seemed irritated at his order, but left anyway. Sneasel, who had slept through everything so far, groggily clambered to his feet and hoisted Speckle into his arms before walking out the door. Silver pushed it shut with his foot and approached the bed. "So. What's all this about?" she asked him, pushing the sheet tighter to his chest.

He stood uncomfortably at a distance, his gaze on anything but her. "I'm so sorry for getting you into this," he said quietly, much to Lyra's surprise. "I should've let you go home. You should be back with your friends and family, probably in a boatload of trouble, but you'd be safe and not hurt."

His apology was genuine and clearly rare; he so very rarely even said the words "I'm sorry" that Lyra wasn't sure of how to respond. She simply chuckled and replied, "Yeah, but without me, would you have freed the birds?"

"I guess not," he admitted, "but that doesn't matter so much to me right now." He hesitantly approached the bed and sat on the edge, angling himself to face her. His expression was so bleak; Lyra felt bad. This boy was by no means a bad person; he felt such remorse over everything that had happened in the past weeks.

Leaning forward, she laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm okay, Silver. I mean, the body heals, right? And my mind is fine. I'll be okay. Don't feel too bad."

Without hesitation, Silver asked, "Lyra, do you hate me?"

Her brow rumpled almost immediately upon the word "hate" leaving his mouth. She shook her head. "Pardon my Kalosian, but what the hell? Why would I comfort someone I hate?"

"You're so nice to people," he muttered, sounding so young. "Even if you're not exactly fond of someone, you're so calm and good to them. You could totally hate me and I'd never know."

She scoffed and tightened her grip on his shoulder. "You're too cute to hate."

He looked at her as though she had grown a Rapidash horn in the center of her forehead. Lyra laughed, and laughter hurt. She needed that mirth, though; the room was a cluster of tension. Silver couldn't help but smile, and he quickly relaxed. Once she quieted down, she smiled and scooted to the side on the bed. "Hey, come sit," she offered. "You look really uncomfortable all the way over on the edge."

"Lyra, honestly—" he was silenced by her tugging on his arm. "Please?"

He tried to pull his arm free, only to have Lyra tighten her grip. He glowered at her. "Are you kidding me?"

She yanked his arm hard, and he came crashing partially onto the bed, and partially onto Lyra. "Rude," he muttered, but she could hear a smile in his voice. He accidentally rolled further onto Lyra as he attempted to right himself, which—much to Lyra's ever-deepening surprise—he also apologized for. He sat up beside her, pressed together thigh-to-thigh. He was only wearing his stick suit; it made his muscles look so much more prevalent than if he wasn't wearing anything at all. Lyra felt self-conscious and tugged the sheets up higher; she was in shape and had a cute, slender body typ, but in comparison to his lean physique, she felt incredibly soft.

He glanced down at her. "You're being kind of shy for someone who just yanked me onto a bed like a jackass."

Lyra smiled a little at this, but she muttered, "I'm just…you do know I'm naked under this, right?"

"Yes," he said, and there was nothing awkward or uncomfortable in his expression as he said it.

For some reason, the lack of interest or disinterest in his expression concerning made her pull the blankets tighter around her. Then, she remembered the hushed voices as the silken fabric rustled…the ones talking about Palkia and doom. "What's going on outside?" she asked quietly. "Why were you guys talking about Palkia?"

His face fell. The calm, respectful neutrality disappeared, replaced by faint and dull futility. It quickly disappeared, and he gazed at Lyra earnestly. "Lyra," he murmured. She yelped in shock as he dragged her closer, and she forgot for a moment about the state of the world because she, tangled up in her sheets, was now curled against Silver's chest. He rested his chin on top of her head and made a low hum in his throat; it tickled her scalp.

"S-silver—" she began, but he simply wrapped his arms around her and held her against him. Trying to regain her composure (and also adjust her sheet), she braced her hands against his chest and pushed back in order to look at him. "Silver. I know you like me, and you know I like you, but you can't use that against me right now. What is happening out there?"

His eyes flashed defiantly as she gazed at him. "You honestly don't want to know right now."

"Yeah, I do," she growled. "Don't start hiding things from me now. Tell me where we are and what's happening." She felt the sheet slipping, but she found herself not caring.

Silver's eyes flitted to her chest briefly before settling on her face again. "Your sheet is going to fall off."

"Like I care." However, she released his chest and gathered her sheet. "I'll just ask the others out there. I'm pretty sure they'll explain."

He grabbed her again, but it was gentle. "Fine," he said, hanging his head. "Just…come here. Please."

She reluctantly stayed with him, and as he drew her close again, the motion was hesitant. They sat like that for a moment, and he said, very plainly, "After you passed out and the birds were freed, Leaf said she knew a place up north. We're near Sinjoh Ruins; it snows almost all year here. It only thaws in the summer. But we got here, and suddenly everything started shaking. Dialga and Palkia appeared, and they were fighting. We took cover in here, and they disappeared about five minutes in, but the fact that their fighting means only one thing."

"Probably the end, right?" Lyra asked, a wry note coloring her voice.

"The more of their power the use, the more they fuck things up," Silver said quietly. He held her more tightly. "If they don't stop…the world could end."

Lyra sighed. She buried her face in his neck; why did it have to end so soon? What about becoming famous and having a biographical movie made about her in her sixties? Was she about to die away from her family? She sighed, "That sucks," Lyra murmured.

Silver snickered. "Lyra, stop talking into my neck! That tickles."

Though she felt like she was on the verge of crying, Lyra had to laugh. "Oh, you mean like this? I can talk a blue streak, you know," she continued.

Silver laughed out loud now. "Stop," he complained while guffawing, trying to pull her off of him. She buried her face further into his neck, continuing to babble. "I told you the world's going to end and you care more about making me giggle like a fucking child?"

"I'm not ready to give up on it," she continued, refusing to let him tug her away from his neck. "And I'm not about to give up on making you laugh."

With a swift motion, he rolled over with her, flattening her against the mattress beneath him. The motion forced Lyra to let go of him. He stared down at her, his face bright red from laughter. "Don't tickle me," he growled, wheezing.

She gazed up at him with wide hazel eyes. He'd wrestled her arms over her head; his hips had her legs pinned. "Silver, there has to be a way to stop all of this. I'll bet Mew knows something; even if it's a really vague idea, she probably has a better idea than we do," she said honestly. There was hope. This couldn't be the end, right?

He shifted her wrists to one hand and used his newly-freed hand to push hair off of her face. "Lyra," he said again, her name dripping from his lips, "where the hell does your optimism come from?"

She smiled up at him. "I was just born with it."

He smiled back, but it looked a little watery. Was he about to cry? Silver lowered himself, freeing her wrists. Her heart pounded as their chests touched; he had to feel it. "You have to keep it. Don't let my fucking hopelessness ruin that." He was laying on top of her now. The pressure was actually soothing; it kept her wounds from seething and warmed her—not that she wasn't warm enough already.

There was a knock on the door; it was Leaf, asking if everything was okay. Silver started to get off of her, but Lyra responded, "I'm okay. We're…we're fine."

Leaf paused, but then she simply replied, "I get it. We'll leave you alone." She peeled away from the door, leaving Silver half on-top of Lyra. He looked down at her questioningly, and she beamed at hm.

His gaze softened. "Lyra," he said again. Her name. He kept saying her name. She wanted him to keep saying her name. Slowly, gauging her reaction, trying to stay certain, he lowered his face toward hers. Lyra knew what was coming, and she grabbed at his hands as their lips met. This was different from kissing Ethan on a dare, or receiving a five second kiss from a boy she had flirted with while goofing off in a different town. This was comfortable and filled with a gentle, safe sort of heat. He sucked at her lower lip, clearly teasing her…

…but then he broke it off. Lyra protested, but it seemed like all he was doing was adjusting. He wrapped his arms around her and sat up, shifting her to his lap. Instead of kissing her lips, he kissed her forehead, her cheek, the bridge of her nose, her neck, her collarbone—anything he could reach. Her fingers clenched hard on his shoulder. "Silver?" she questioned weakly, her breath caught in her throat.

He paused, his lips near her neck. "What?"

"We're….we're not going…there, are we?" she asked breathlessly.

Quietly, he pulled back and shook his head. In his most sincere voice, he said, "I just wanted to do that. In case we all die. You already know I like you, so why the fuck not act on it? This isn't the time to leave stuff hanging like that."

Lyra leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. His eyes closed so gently when she did it, so she had to do it again. In a few minutes, she would face reality. They both would. In the mean time, in this back room, they might as well pretend that nothing was wrong. "Well, it was a pleasant surprise," she said, grinning at him.

He smiled back—he was smiling so much with her—and she could feel the warmth of the rare expression deep in her bones.

* * *

_A/N: Hi! I apologize for the wait! I've been in and out a lot of the week and also conspiring with a newfound friend on some interesting ideas for future fics on Tumblr...as well as doing shipping memes. So in the future, look out for some zany fics inspired by my lovely amiga._

_I had to end the chapter on a lighter note, since the shit hit the fan in the beginning. Silver and Lyra kissed. Silver is also very smiley for Lyra. The young lass makes him feel a bit giddy, don't you think? It's all good; he made her feel pretty breathless. _

_I feel like there might be a lot of mistakes in this chapter, so I'll probably go back and correct it. At the end of this story, I think I'll go back through and polish it up a bit._

_Also, I forgot to mention this, but I referenced a certain pretentious robot anime (Neon Genesis Evangelion) last chapter, and also Darkrai may or may not watch anime and cartoons while feeding off of people's nightmares. I apologize if you're like a true fan of NGE; I like it, too, but my goodness it has a lot of problems. _

_A very recent review on this fic was telling me about the usage of "they" as a singular pronoun being incorrect. I understand that. It is a common pronoun that many people who are nonbinary like to use. The rule of "they" is pretty ambiguous anyway. If anyone else was worried about this, it's okay. I did some asking around and most of the people and sites I consulted said that "they" was a pretty safe pronoun to use. I just hope that I haven't offended anyone._

_I also would like to throw a few more songs out there that have given me the juice to write this fic: Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes, Old Yellow Bricks by the Arctic Monkeys, At Least I'm Not As Sad by Fun, Bad Blood by Bastille (I might've mentioned this one before?), and Sparks by Coldplay. _

_So. On a different note, I probably won't be updating again until the weekend. If I update sooner, it'll be a miracle. Tomorrow, I'm learning music for an audition that happens Tuesday. Wednesday, if I get in, I'll be at a "boot camp" for the music group. Thursday and Friday...I have to get up in the morning to go to training, since I'm basically going to be a den mother to incoming freshman this year. I still don't know why I got chosen to do it. I'm a salty piece of crap tbh. Not a good people person._

_Leave a review. Don't be shy. Reviews were pretty slow for the past week, so don't be afraid to speak up! I like to address concerns, both publicly and privately, and also just seeing reactions is fun._

_Until I update again, please behave yourselves. Also, don't forget to take care of yourselves._


	21. Connection

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I also do not own a giraffe. This is upsetting.**

* * *

White gazed at her hands, wondering at the beauty of the human body. Her skin had tiny cracks, like a parched desert thirsting for rain, and in those cracks her nervous perspiration formed salty rivers. Her nails, though chipped and stained, glowed over this desolate little world.

Everything seemed like a world when soon there would be no world.

It was clammy down here; her legs, crossed as she sat between her fiancé and Serena, were damp from the dripping cave ceiling. In spite of the moist chilliness, she felt too warm. Her anxiety felt tangible, like a strangling weight that crushed her chest. How could it go down like this? How could Palkia and Dialga start tearing things apart before she and N could get married?

How could they so readily destroy each other when there were innocent children and Pokémon looking forward to a long and prosperous life?

How could they so readily deconstruct Arceus's grand creation?

She wanted to cry, but she refused to let a single tear fall. Serena next to her seemed somber, mumbling occasionally in Kalosian to herself, and N simply said nothing. He seemed frozen.

No one was really talking to each other. What was there to say? There was an inevitable sense of doom in the air; even if they weren't going to die now, they were probably going to die soon.

White craned her neck and pressed a kiss to the side of N's face. "I love you," she murmured, linking her fingers through his.

"I love you as well," N whispered back, squeezing her hand tightly.

"I'm sorry," White murmured.

He laughed dryly. "As though this is your fault."

"We shouldn't have waited," she admitted, shaking her head. "We should've done it when we had the chance."

N shrugged. "We can say should have and could have, but how were we to know how quickly this would end?"

White had no reply to that. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back against the wall; her hair snagged on the rough edges in the rock. "That's true," she finally murmured.

Her grip tightened on him. She didn't want to lose him; not now, when she had waited so long for this man she never knew she had wanted to wait for.

* * *

The second that Kris and Fearow entered the warped tunnel of time and space was the second she realized that things were about to become pretty heavy.

She had the brief thought, prior to entering, that perhaps it was a bad idea. Space was an airless void that was either far too hot or much too cold; entering the vortex could easily kill both her and her Fearow. Also, what if space became as jagged and unforgiving here as it had been on Earth during spatial rends?

Luckily enough for her, the tunnel did not seem to have it in for her and Fearow. Kris heaved a huge sigh of relief, but her tensions were ramped up when she noticed the strange qualities of the place.

She knew it was a tunnel; it was rounded, closed-in space, but at the same time it felt nothing like one. In every direction, she could see…scenery. Fearow flapped past a vision that seemed to look into primordial earth, where a young Tyrunt scrambled across a beach away from an Armaldo that swung his blades viciously. Kris glanced up wildly to see a sky swirling with volcanic ash; some of it fell on her. _We could totally enter those other places if we wanted to, _she realized.

However, before she could think too deeply on it, she emerged over a warm ocean, where Palkia and Dialga were blasting each other with attacks emblazoned with dragon fire. Fearow swooped high on the current, cooing happily at the balmy push. Kris focused on the two dragons, shouting, "Hey! Dialga! Palkia! Cool it off!"

She wasn't fast enough; another portal had opened and Palkia threw his sibling through it. Kris rolled her eyes and guided Fearow in that direction.

The time-space tunnel this time seemed a little more…modern. She saw Ecruteak City, but it was an antiquated version of it, for the Burned Tower still stood tall and proud and the people ambled around in yukatas. Saffron City sprawled—with squat brick buildings and a myriad of unsightly smokestacks that belched greasy black smoke. A few tiny buildings dotted a snowy landscape elsewhere. "This is too weird," she muttered.

"Row, fear, feee," Fearow remarked rather airily. _This is pretty interesting, at least to me, but if I can ride on another nice current that'd be niiiiice. _

Kris rolled her eyes. It didn't take some fancy newfangled translator to understand that her Fearow seemed to be enjoying herself. "Show some etiquette, why don't you," she muttered.

The tunnel spat them out in a desert north of a large city. Kris brought her hood over her eyes; the swirling, stormy vortex of sands cut into her face. Here, if she tried to shout, she would get a mouthful of sand and her voice would be lost to the wind. "Fearow, I need you to use Air Slash," she murmured quietly to her Pokémon. "Aim right in between them."

"Row!" _I don't want to die! _Fearow protested.

"We're probably all going to die anyway, so just do it," Kris begged.

Fearow very reluctantly summoned her favorite attack and shot it at the dragons…who once again disappeared. "Crap!" Kris hissed, and she spurned Fearow into motion.

Now the tunnel seemed to have no set time period. In fact, it showed fewer landscapes and more people and Pokémon. Somewhere, a volcano erupted, and a disgruntled Entei raced toward a village. A pair of boys, one with ruffled brown hair and the other with a mane of dark blue spikes, gripped hands tightly as their world shook and rumbled around them. A traditional Johtonese wedding with a beautiful, gray-eyed bride. Apple trees laden with blossoms, where small Fairy-type Pokémon played in the branches. A dark-skinned man bumping fists with a Mienshao.

Much to her surprise, she saw Lyra—a young Lyra, cuddled in her bed with Cyndaquil in her arms and a myriad of Pokémon plush scattered over the mattress. The sight was so startling that she didn't notice that the end of the tunnel was quickly approaching.

Quickly, they were spat out on the top of a tall mountain, where the air was thin. Fearow, avoiding a marble column, twisted sideways so quickly that Kris was dumped out onto the ground a few yards below. Her landing was hard, and her shoulder dragged across the ground. Kris swore loudly as Fearow swooped, apologizing loudly in her own language. "I'm okay," she groaned. Palkia and Dialga seemed to have stopped fighting physically. On the top of this tall mountain, where the remains of a temple still stood, they seemed to be arguing loudly with one another.

Kris planted her hand against a nearby column, one that was little more than a jagged stump now, and slowly got to her feet. Her left femur seemed to grind into its socket with every movement. Had she dislocated something? Releasing her Meganium, she slung her arm around his neck and continued stumping forward. "Gan, um meg?" Meganium asked. _Hey, are you okay?_

"Probably not. But we have more important things to worry about." Summoning her strength, she roared, "Hey! You! Dialga and Palkia! I've been talking to you for _ages! _Haven't you been listening?"

The Pokémon ceased their arguing to look at the human girl, who pointed at them angrily. "You should be _ashamed _of yourselves!" she started, gimping along with Meganium's help.

Dialga gazed at the girl oddly. _Excuse me, have you been using our portals? _The Pokémon asked in a distinctly female voice.

Kris was surprised; if anything, she would have pictured Palkia being female. Kicking aside her surprise, she responded, "Yeah, but that's kind of not important. What's important is that while you're fighting you're kind of tearing apart the fabric of the world! You're gonna kill _everyone!_"

_What does it matter? _This insolent male voice belonged to Palkia, whose claws clenched heatedly as he regarded the young lady in front of him. _Arceus has abandoned us all. He doesn't care. He's not going to take care of you, and we're all going to die anyway._

Kris sighed. She had figured there was some dramatic explanation for all of this, but Arceus abandoning them was a particularly sensational and unexpected one. "Well, excuse you, but not everyone has that mentality! My foster sister, Lyra, keeps joking about having a biographical movie made about her when she's in her sixties. There are people out there that are engaged and haven't gotten married yet. There are grandparents who want to see their grandchildren grow up. Like what's with this mindset where if you're hurting everyone should hurt, too?" she demanded of Palkia.

The Spatial Pokémon glared at her. _I could easily kill you._

Dialga, in turn, whirled on her brother and snarled, _I have been telling you this for the past few years! The fact that some human is telling you these same things should clue you into how wrong your actions have been!_

Kris raised her eyebrows. "Some human?"

Dipping her head, Dialga remarked, _I apologize. I do not know you._

"My name is Kris, and it's not a name you'll soon forget," she announced.

Meganium gave her a pointed look, as if to tell her to keep herself in check. Kris ignored the look from her stern Starter as Palkia snapped, _I could squash you like a Caterpie and you would never see it coming._

_What's all the fuss? _Legendaries, human girl, and Pokémon alike turned to see the appearance of a newcomer. Kris felt her stomach drop to her toes; this newcomer was the Renegade Pokémon, Giratina. He had been banished from earth thousands and thousands of years ago for his crimes against humans and Pokémon alike. Giratina regarded Kris curiously. _An injured human girl? With two common Pokémon?_

"Excuse me, show some respect for my Pokémon," she demanded.

Giratina made an odd pattern of hissing noises. Kris realized that this was his version of laughter. _Ah, I like this one. She's pretty feisty. Palkia, did she emasculate you?_

Palkia, clearly flustered, retorted, _She's just a human!_

Dialga roared loudly, bringing attention back to the matter at hand. She cleared her throat and regarded Kris with what was likely supposed to be a pleasant expression. _I am glad that you have come to speak with us, _she said diplomatically, _but it seems clear to me that there is nothing that can get through to Palkia at this point._

Kris sighed. Reaching into her pockets, she dug through them and emerged with a relic of her time as an almost Champion-level Trainer. Professor Elm had handed this to her saying, "In case of an emergency, this will never fail you." Kris lifted it—the gleaming purple Master Ball—into the air. She looked directly at Palkia. "If you don't cut it out, I will capture you in this foolproof Pokeball."

_Ooh, I do love a good drama, _Giratina commented. The Pokémon sat down and curled into a coil, the tip of his tail wriggling excitedly. _Go on. Pretend I'm not watching._

Palkia ignored his brother's fairly tactless comments and scoffed at Kris's Master Ball. _That puny thing could never hold me._

"Oh really? A Master Ball holds the Pokémon Xerneas," she said. She didn't know if that was true, but she doubted that Palkia would have any better ideas.

The Spatial Pokémon seemed to lose some confidence. _She was always an easy catch, _he said, but now he didn't sound so sure.

Kris tossed the ball up in the air; Palkia flinched. "If you were inside of this for a long time, you wouldn't be able to tear everything apart, would you?" she said with a coy, chilly smirk.

Palkia growled nervously, _Don't threaten me!_

"Ganium, meg!" _Kris, you need to stop! _Meganium warned her, his tone growing desperate. Fearow chirped in agreement.

Kris knew that was she was doing was incredibly stupid. But Palkia was too far away for her to throw the Master Ball at him; she needed to anger him. To get him close. Pounding the final nail in the coffin, Kris shrugged. "Well, if you're really that threatened by me, come at me."

Meganium groaned, particularly as Palkia did just as he was requested to do.

* * *

Lyra had thought that healing from a dislocated shoulder had limited her movements, but not in the way the deep gouges that had penetrated her muscles did. She had needed Leaf to come in and help her dress, as she couldn't twist her arms enough to zip up the back of her stick suit—her spare one that glinted reddish and had semi-sheer fabric on the upper chest, arms and leg; she had worn it under a red and white dress at her neighbor's wedding about a year ago. "This is embarrassing," she muttered as Leaf adjusted the fabric of the stick suit. "Not being able to dress myself."

"Don't worry about it too much," Leaf said, who had moved on to brushing Lyra's hair for her. "That Mew keeps pulsing you with healing magic, and you'll probably end up with full mobility and minimal scarring."

Lyra sighed. "I'm glad she keeps healing me."

Leaf set the brush aside and fluffed Lyra's hair. "You're an incredibly good person. That's the only kind of person who attracts a Mew like that." She paused. "Besides Mew and Silver—don't deny that you weren't macking on each other in here—you've attracted something else."

Lyra perked up and ignored the comment about Silver (Leaf wasn't at all wrong). What had followed her to this snowy hole? "Person, Pokémon, or robot?"

Leaf frowned. "Robot?" She held her hands up, shaking her head. "Wait, don't even explain. That Noivern that you talked to…well…she followed us out here. I think the existential crisis made her a very lost little soul."

"All of those Noivern were really big for their usually size. Most Noivern aren't taller than five feet, but that male one who screwed up my shoulders was at least six feet tall," Lyra commented. "I wouldn't say a little soul."

Leaf ground the heel of her hand into her forehead. "Whatever. Just deal with the Pokémon. She's been sitting in our living room asking like 90 questions about you a minute and Silver is getting pissy."

She followed Leaf from the cramped little room and into the house. The minute she stepped out of the bedroom and into a sitting room, Lyra was swamped by her Pokémon again. Mew nuzzled at her cheeks while Lumi and Speckle cuddled against her legs. "Don't climb onto my shoulders," she hissed as Copper attempted to leap up on her. He sheepishly sat back down and gazed at his paws as though they were incredibly interesting and never-before-seen.

She petted her Pokémon and smiled as they yapped at her. She smiled and responded to their many questions and inquiries before looking up to see the four older Trainers looking at her. Leaf had a gentle smile on her face; she found the Pokémon to be quite endearing. Red and Blue seemed amused. A finally-present Mewtwo sat in the corner looking fairly bored. Silver, on the other hand, looked particularly annoyed. "Hey, give her some space. If you're all up in her face, how is she going to breathe?"

Mew rolled her eyes and pulled away to humor him. The others were reluctant to agree, and Copper muttered something along the lines of "Stupid fucking redhead thinks we're a cock block probably" (Lyra wondered where she had gone wrong in raising Copper) and stumped off. Still looking fairly grouchy, Silver pointed to a lumpy black sofa on the other side of the small, humid living room. Lyra realized that the sofa itself was not black, but a black Pokémon was resting upon it. Silver grumbled, "There is a Noivern. Go talk to the Noivern. That stupid Pokémon has me so fed up."

Lyra rolled her eyes at the boy; his personality had shifted drastically since their earlier kissing. She stood up and brushed past him, letting her shoulder brush against his arm, and she approached Noivern. "Hi—" she started, but the Noivern sprang upon her and enveloped the girl with her velvety wings. "Whoa! Hi! What's with all these enthusiastic greetings? It's not like I died!" Lyra exclaimed.

"You lost a lot of blood," Blue pointed out helpfully as Noivern nuzzled Lyra.

Lyra shrugged. "Well, okay, I guess that's something to worry about."

"You had me really worried! You came and made me think for myself, and then that _jerk _almost killed you!" Noivern squealed.

Lyra patted the Pokémon on the back soothingly. "Hey, it's okay. Everything's all right."

"Not really." Lyra turned in Noivern's embrace to look at a somber Red as he spoke. "Silver told you about Dialga and Palkia, but he might have failed to mention that there has been activity at Sinjoh Ruins."

Gently prying Noivern's wings away from her body, she stepped forward. "What sort of activity?"

"We're not sure. Whatever it is, we need to check it out," Silver replied. "It's not human. There's something going on in there, and no one knows what the hell it involves."

"Great! When are we going?" she asked.

Silver raised his eyebrows. "You're not going anywhere. You're injured."

Lyra looked to the other three Trainers and Mewtwo. "Am I going?"

"Yes. You seem to be able to tame things," Mewtwo remarked, not at all masking the pointed look he made toward Silver.

The Trainers nodded, and Silver groaned. "This is stupid. It's cold as fuck out there and she's hurt, but you guys think she should come with? There's a reason I didn't tell Lyra about that!"

Lyra massaged her jaw, thinking. Had Silver just kissed her in order to distract her from the fact that there were plenty of interesting occurrences outside? The thought annoyed her, and she shot him a dirty look. Facing the other Trainers and Mewtwo, she said, "Well, honestly, I'm in, and no _grumpy redheaded curmudgeon _is going to make that decision for me."

"Who the hell even uses the word curmudgeon?" Silver demanded.

"Me," Lyra said, hurt settling low in her gut at the change from the Silver who had kissed her and held her just minutes before to the same, grouchy Silver who was now getting on her nerves. "When are we going?"

"Soon. Be prepared to go out in the cold; there are winter coats hanging up in the kitchen. I think there are enough," Leaf said. Blue sighed loudly, and Red nudged him with fiendish glee. They headed toward the kitchen, a room that branched off of this small living room, and Lyra began to follow.

She was stopped by Silver, who blocked her path with his body. "Lyra, what was _that _look for earlier?" he demanded.

"What was with keeping information from me and kissing me to hide the guilt?" she retorted. Her Pokémon and Noivern looked on in interest; she and Silver hadn't had a terse moment in quite some time. "I don't appreciate this."

"Lyra," Silver said, his eyes softening a touch, "I know you're tough and all that shit, but you are at least two pints low on blood and you can't even lift your arms above your head right now. Going out there is such a stupid idea."

She folded her arms and looked away from him. "Takes one to know one."

Silver fought a smile and quickly replaced this expression with a stern look. He took her hands and softly said, "If you're going out there, I am going to be watching you like a Pidgeot. Because the minute you get hurt is the minute I'm going to probably scream like a little girl and then feel the need to punch something to be manly again."

"Didn't expect anything less." Lyra tugged her hands out of his. "Come on. We have important things to do."

* * *

_A/N: Hi! This is a very belated update! I'm sorry! The past week has been crazy; I got into the vocal group I auditioned for, did marching band, had senior pictures taken, had a few mishaps, and I just...I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, between a lack of inspiration, time, and sleep. I wanted to launch into things, but then it wasn't flowing right. Consider this a connector chapter, and I won't feel bad if this isn't your favorite._

_School starts this upcoming Tuesday for me. Ew. This fic isn't going to be all that much longer, but because of school, the update speed is gonna sloooooow down. Urgh. I'll try and update once before that, but I won't make any promises._

_I don't have much to say here; I've run out of words. So, leave a review. That'd be nice. Follow it? Favorite it? Give it any kind of attention you want._

_Until next time, treat yourself to stupid YouTube videos from 2009._


	22. Litany

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I actually own Digimon. Okay I don't even own that. Can't I own something?**

* * *

Corona stood quietly in the office. It had taken quite a bit of time to explain exactly what had happened when they managed to lose their three functional human-Legendary bonds to her fellow peers and also to security—the group out in the ocean had to flag down a boat to be taken to Slateport City.

Then, from there, Corona had to _walk north _to Mauville City like some common grunt! There was also some disturbance going on due to Palkia and Dialga picking a fight, so she had to take shelter multiple times. It had cut out suddenly. She made her way back to Mauville City, and now here she stood in her boss's office, waiting for him to collect his thoughts and scorn her.

That whole mission had been a failure, and she had been in charge. Clearly it was her fault. She was going to get the short of the stick on this one for sure.

The office, dark with the curtains still drawn, was silent. Corona felt that the silence was too heavy, too much to bear when her fate as an admin was potentially at stake. _It would've been easier if I'd just been abducted with Cruz, _she decided with a sigh.

That sound was enough to make her boss whirl in his chair. "Don't you dare make such intrusive sounds while I'm thinking!"

"Well, gee, a girl's gotta breathe sometimes," Corona muttered under her breath. Her eyes widened, and she clapped a hand to her mouth. Where the hell was her brain-mouth connection? What was even going on with her?

The boss rose from his chair. "It seems you are making my thinking much easier, my dear Corona." He stumped forward; his position was sickly and seemed powerless. "Perhaps I will revoke your status as admin."

"My record has been spotless up until this whole fucking snafu!" Corona snapped, folding her arms across her chest.

Her boss chuckled. His glasses, with red-tinted lenses, flashed as he gazed up at the woman, who was both significantly younger and taller than him. "Your attitude has been less than stellar in the past few months, I must say. In spite of this, this has little to do with your mistake. In fact, your mistake has…well…helped us, so to speak."

Corona arched an eyebrow. "Explain."

Rubbing his hands together—producing a dry sound that Corona found nauseating—the boss grinned. His teeth glinted in the dim lighting. "I am not eager to reveal this, but every employee and member of Aether has a tracker laced into their uniforms."

"That's handy—" Corona froze. She glared down at her boss. "Wait. Even the admins?"

"For the past two months you have gone to the same man's apartment every Friday in Slateport City. On Mondays you stop at the same deli. You sometimes go and sit at the shore when you are troubled," her boss said with a triumphant expression to counter Corona's horrified one. "I know your every move, but I also know everyone else's every move."

Corona sighed. Surveillance…she shouldn't have put it past him. He was a strange old man, paranoid but highly brilliant, particularly in matters of science and research. "So…we can track down Brendan and my _sister _and Aurora."

Her boss nodded. "Precisely."

"Are we going to attack?" Corona asked, running a hand through her bright pink hair.

"Of course. We could destroy the Pokémon League _and _take care of those loose ends, my dear Corona." He leaned back to push the intercom on his desk. "Prepare attack squadrons level C through A. We are going to attack the Pokémon League. Leave no survivors."

Corona froze. No survivors? Wouldn't he want to recover them? "Are you going to kill the Legendaries, too?" she asked in a low voice, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.

"Do you have cold feet? That is the basis of this organization. I don't want them to be misused; these Legendaries are better dead than in the hands of people who want to fight us," he said.

Corona wasn't so sure. She had been with Aether for four years; her intimidating presence, powerful battling skills, and connections to her _sister _had given her quick access to the top and that high salary she had hoped for. It had never been about killing Legendaries; it was just about flexing a muscle and getting a buck for it.

As the boss began to activate the intercom, she asked, "What about Rotom?"

He glared at her over the tops of his glasses, fingers hovering over the buttons. "That Pokémon is not a Legendary."

"Close enough. You're one of the only people to have encountered one," Corona retorted.

"Enough stalling," the boss growled. His fingers pressed down on the buttons, and over the intercom he gave the announcement that the Pokémon League would be attacked.

His attentions off of her, Corona turned on her heel and exited the room. Uncertainty coiled in her, but she swallowed it. Now wasn't the time to give up on the organization. What did a little more blood on her hands mean? Absolutely nothing, right? She walked down the featureless gray hallway, running her hands through her hair.

It would be just another mission like the ones she went on not too long ago herself. It would be like the things she trained the recruits to do.

Her stomach ached, but she ignored that and swallowed her emotion. The three human-Legendary pairs had brought this upon themselves; it was time to punish them.

Determined to forget her misgivings, she grabbed her Pokeballs and headed to the nearest healing station. Destroying people who had been captured and the powerful Champions and Trainers that held them was going to be a process that required everything she and her long-time partners could give.

* * *

Palkia had barely moved forward when powerful roots erupted from the ground and ensnared him, slowing his movements. Kris, who could barely stand, sent out all of her Pokémon. Aside from Meganium and Fearow, four new Pokémon stood ready to battle on the mountainside. An Ariados, Ninetales, Hitmonchan, and Vaporeon appeared and stared at their opponent with a mixture of horror and wonder. "Immobilize him," Kris requested. "You know what to do."

Her Pokémon's eyes glinted. In the past, Kris had captured some large and powerful Pokémon, like Steelix, Tyranitar, even an Aggron. Palkia wasn't a great deal larger than any of those—he was definitely smaller than Steelix—and the tactic would work.

Palkia, though unable to make much forward progress, still unleashed his wrath on the Pokémon swarming him. A Dragon Pulse attack barely missed Kris, who was quickly scooped up by Fearow. Her Fearow, though a strong battler, had proven to be a better navigator and flier, and it was now that her skills would be put to the test in evading him.

While Meganium worked on keeping his Frenzy Plant in place, Ninetales and Vaporeon fogged his vision with steam created from Ninetales's Flamethrower and Vaporeon's Water Pulse. The hot steam wafted into his face, and his aim became increasingly worse.

Dialga and Giratina watched in awe. Now that there was a proper amount of steam, Vaporeon began shooting Ice Beams at Palkia, coating his body in ice. Hitmonchan knew the move Ice Punch and quickly joined, leaping about and gleefully jabbing his ice-covered fists into Palkia's side. Masterfully, Ariados trailed webs before letting them be frozen in place by Vaporeon. Never before had they seen teamwork on such a grand scale. Whenever the steam faded, Vaporeon and Ninetales, clearly well-acquainted with one another, would provide more. Enraged at how easily he was trapped, Palkia roared loudly to an apathetic sky.

_Clearly she trained them well, _Dialga remarked to Giratina as their brother became a solid block of ice, cobweb, and vine up to his neck.

_Some human out there would be very lucky to have a woman like that, _Giratina remarked. Dialga rolled her eyes and then returned her attentions to what was occurring in front of them.

Kris sat stoically on Fearow's back as her Pokémon leaped back from their work, looking up to her for her approval. She smiled and gave them a thumbs-up before asking Fearow to land.

Once he landed, her Hitmonchan darted over to support her. "Palkia," she called, gesturing at his immobilized body, "now that you're not going to be able to kill me, we can either talk or I can capture you with this Master Ball. It's time to decide."

_Release me at once! _Palkia roared. Ariados scrambled to Palkia's mouth and splattered silk across it. Vaporeon promptly froze it into place as well; it wasn't as though he needed his mouth to talk.

"Releasing you is kind of not an option. It's either we talk about why what you're doing is wrong or I capture you. Or maybe both. The point is that you're not being freed any time soon," Kris said, her tone borderline bored. "So. Let's talk. Why are you hurting everyone when you know it's wrong?"

Palkia writhed in his restraints. _Why should I tell you?_

_I will tell her, _Dialga retorted reproachfully, eyeing her brother coldly. _He feels that it will bring Arceus back._

_Why did you tell her that? _Palkia whined.

_Why wouldn't she? _Giratina remarked with a chuckle.

The three Pokémon burst out into argument. Kris rubbed at her neck, eyes closed tightly to their squabbling. Talking Palkia—and his other siblings—down was going to prove to be quite the task, wasn't it?

* * *

For a moment, Lyra wanted to tell Silver that he was right and slogging through waist-high snow while recovering from blood loss had been a horrible idea on her part, but what would that mean for her pride?

Plus, halfway out into the snowy expanses between that tiny cabin and the Sinjoh Ruins, half-buried in snow, she was pretty sure it would be a stupid idea to turn back. As long as Mew was snuggled in under the jacket giving off a thin vein of healing energy and the others remained close by, nothing bad would happen to her, anyway.

The Pokeballs at her hips provided some comfort. Partially hidden by the dense black fabric of a warm, expensive winter jacket, she now had four. The Noivern had decided to come with; they would later have to discuss a potential name for her. As the icy wind cut across her cheeks, chapping skin that was sunburned from the summer sun, she allowed herself a tiny smile of victory. She knew some incredible Pokémon.

Over the drone of the wind, she heard Blue demand, "Why is your Mewtwo not teleporting us here?"

"I don't own him, dumbass!" Silver shouted back. In spite of their argument earlier, he was still walking as close to Lyra as he could; even if he was a belligerent fool, he truly seemed to care about Lyra.

This thought warmed her until Mewtwo, who floated along lazily behind Silver, interjected, "I can't teleport you there because it's sacred ground and we'll all be struck dead. Also, to use words he may say, he's my bitch more than I am his."

Blue snickered loudly as he trudged through the snow. "That figures."

Not too long after this, Silver scooped his hand through a nearby snow bank and began packing snow into a ball. Lyra raised her eyebrows. "For someone who is really messed up over the world ending, you have some seriously inappropriate timing for the stuff you do."

He shrugged and threw a perfect knuckleball into the back of Blue's head. Though he was protected by the hood of his jacket, the Kanto Gym Leader let off a feminine scream. Silver remarked, "I think I have inappropriate timing on everything. It's just obvious now."

"You don't say," she muttered as Blue began to yell at Mewtwo for throwing things at him. Hadn't he just been arguing with Silver? He should have been able to put two and two together and know that Silver had just pelted him with a snowball.

Lyra stared ahead at the Sinjoh Ruins. They were barely visible through the snow that whipped and swished around with devilish delight, but their visage seemed off. The world around appeared to be in its normal three dimensions, but the Sinjoh Ruins looked as though it had been hastily patched in by a novice animator with an ancient computer. "Why do they look so funny?" she asked Silver in a low voice.

Mew wriggled in her jacket. _It's because that is the house of Arceus._

"Something really strong is there," Silver replied. Lyra figured they were both right; one answer would have simply earned fewer points on a test due to vague ambiguity.

Lyra wrapped her arms around herself, accidentally squishing Mew. "Mew says it's Arceus's house."

_He abandoned us all, though, so I'm not sure that he would be there._

Sighing, Lyra adjusted her hood. "If he is there, I think he and I need to have a little talk."

"A Pokémon that powerful and that apathetic would tear you to pieces before you could even say hello," Silver warned her.

"At least someone will have tried before, y'know, we all die," Lyra retorted with her eyebrows raised.

There was silence between them after this. Mew kept chatting at Lyra, and Blue was complaining about the cold to both Leaf and Red, but there was nothing to really be said between Lyra and Silver.

As they drew closer to the ruins, Lyra began to feel quite light, as though she could jump out of the snow and float. The curious sensation began in her toes and stretched through her body like a strange plant. "What's that feeling?" she whispered to Mew.

Mew wriggled through her jacket and poked her head out alongside Lyra's at the neck of the jacket. _I don't know. I'm beginning to feel unreal._

No one else remarked upon it, but Lyra knew everyone else was feeling it, too. Each stride became more uncertain, but at the same time their posture and expressions relaxed. Lyra stumbled in the snow, and Silver reached out to catch her—the motion was slow. So slow. Lyra tugged free of his hold and shook her head, trying to free herself of this feeling. It wasn't a bad one, but something was inherently wrong about it.

The bitter cold felt far away, and that was when Lyra knew she had to do something.

"Mew, bite me," she said sluggishly. "I don't feel real, either."

_Bite you? _She questioned slowly.

Lyra nodded. "Do it."

Mew's teeth closed tightly on the skin behind her ear, and reality sunk in. The cold bit at her, her wounds pulsed, and the place where Mew bit her stung mightily. "Ow! Okay! That's enough!" she yelped, hopping from one foot to another. She pinched Mew's ear, forcing the Pokémon to let go.

_Lyra, what was that for? _Mew hissed, shaking her head furiously.

"Making you feel real," Lyra replied. She grew closer to Silver and found his hand. She pushed his sleeve up until she had a sliver of bare skin. Tearing her glove off with her teeth, she used her bare fingers, stinging in the cold, to dig hard into Silver's wrist.

He ripped his arm away from her. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. Clarity quickly returned to his eyes.

"Making you feel again! The closer we get to this place, the less we feel!" Lyra shouted over the wind that seemed far louder than it had been before.

"Well I definitely felt you cut my wrist with your nails," Silver remarked, licking at three crescents of blood that beaded on his wrist.

Mew wriggled free of Lyra's coat to quickly nip at the other three Trainers and Mewtwo. Lyra watched her go before saying, "This place is strange. I don't like it."

"If it is Arceus that's here, I'm guessing he really doesn't want to be bothered," Lyra remarked.

A chorus of yelps brought the attention of the pair to the rest of their group. Everyone was rubbing at earlobes and necks begrudgingly as Mew slipped back into Lyra's coat. _It's cold out, _she commented.

"All right, let's stop a second," Blue shouted. "We gotta figure out what's going on!"

The group gathered into a tight circle, standing shoulder to shoulder in the dense snow. Lyra looked around the group; Red and Leaf conveyed little emotion, as usual, but Blue and Silver looked particularly agitated. Mewtwo seemed worried. "Why did we feel that?" Blue questioned. "Why did we all suddenly feel so fuzzy and not really there?"

"Mew said that Arceus lives here," Lyra remarked, "but if he's abandoned us or something, he wouldn't be here, right?"

"Abandoned?" questioned Blue.

Mew explained, _Arceus turned his back on us. That's why Dialga and Palkia were fighting like that._

Red, Leaf, and Blue exchanged glances. "I guess it was obvious," Leaf concluded. "No one who was actively watching over us would allow that to happen."

"The point is that if Arceus is there, he probably doesn't want to be bothered and that's why we start feeling fuzzy and disoriented," Silver replied.

"Arceus. How are we supposed to deal with Arceus?" Blue asked.

"Obviously we're not going to win in a fight," Red remarked.

Lyra sighed and flipped her hood back. Her cheeks stung in the cold, but she enjoyed the bit. "You brought me out here to talk to things and calm them down. Who's to say we can't talk him down?"

Leaf shook her head. She gently explained, "Lyra, he's trying to kill us in the snow, if it is him. If we had gotten any further confused, we could have gotten lost out here and died in the cold."

"There's more than our lives at stake!" Lyra exclaimed, clapping her hands to her chest angrily. Her shoulders felt warm and damp—she had reopened her wounds, most likely. "I'd love to live to be sixty! I'd love to get married to someone and have a happy, fulfilling life! But it's more important to me that we do whatever we can so that everyone has that opportunity. You guys were so morose when you heard the world was going to end, and what are you doing now?"

"Lyra—" Leaf began to warn her, but she cut her off with an icy glare.

"You can't waffle over this! If you're not going to try and talk to Arceus or fight him or anything, I'm going on my own. If I die, at least I know I tried something," Lyra snapped. Everyone simply stared at her; she was a passionate, stubborn girl, but they did not know her as one who could potentially use cutting words when things weren't going her way. Turning away from the circle, she took a deep breath. "Go back if you want. I'm not giving up now."

She took another step out into the snow. And another. Glancing to her left, she saw Silver keeping stride with her. Glancing further back, she saw the other three gazing at her uncertainly and Mewtwo trailing behind her. "Nice to see that I'm not going in alone," Lyra remarked, turning away from them.

"You're stupid," Silver groaned.

"I know," she said with a bright smile.

Mew poked her head out of Lyra's coat again and turned to watch the three left behind. _Blue is turning back. Red seems that he is thinking about it. Leaf might be yelling at Blue, but I can't quite tell._

"It doesn't matter if they don't come," Lyra replied with a sigh. "I mean, okay, it bugs me they'd turn back so quickly. But so far Silver, Mewtwo, and I have been doing just fine on our own."

"If we die here anyway it'd just be an easier and quicker one than the one everyone else will die," Silver said.

Lyra smiled up at him. "Look at that optimism!"

"I learned it from you!" Silver retorted with a smile to mock hers.

Laughing at that, Lyra turned to look at the Sinjoh Ruins. They were distorted and strange here; they seemed pixilated now. "This is insane," she said breathlessly.

Mewtwo drew up on her other side and hovered, gazing at the ruins as well. "It's strange. Arceus is not my maker, but I feel as though I'm going to meet a long-lost ancestor."

"Who will probably try and kill you," Silver added helpfully.

"He wouldn't be the first," Mewtwo retorted with a drawn-out sigh.

They stood in silence, letting the wind buffet them. Inhaling the polar air, Lyra savored Earth in that moment. This was what she wanted to save. A place where the cold was bitter, the heat was unbearable, and the grass swayed green and the sky glowed blue. Where people lived and loved and fought. Where Pokémon lived and loved and fought. Where everyone would live and everyone would die.

This she needed to save.

"Let's go. We can't waste any more time," Lyra declared.

Silver and Mewtwo nodded solemnly. Together, they took the first step forward toward bringing Arceus home.

* * *

_A/N: Hello! It is I, Mars. I do apologize for the lack of speed of this update. I have entered school. Abandon all hope ye who enter here-quoth the Dante. Anyway we have a new schedule that is sucky, rules that make the place seem like a prison, and also a huge bullying crisis right now. It's so much fun. Just kidding. It really isn't._

_If this fic is volleyball, consider this chapter the set and almost everything before this the bump. Consider the next few chapters the spike. If you don't get what that means...you probably don't have to take gym class in school and kudos to you._

_To address a concern of a lovely reviewer of mine (which comes from a few chapters back now I think), I mentioned atheism in this fic earlier. What I would consider the Pokemon world equivalent of atheism is saying that no Pokemon has godlike powers. So...basically not believing in the entire Ubers category._

_Also, I'm currently starting in on two other projects that are both Soulsilvershipping and another which is basically indulging the fancies of a certain lovely Soulsilvershipper on here, but I am prioritizing finishing this fic over those side project. This fic will be coming to an end in the next few chapters or so, and after it ends, keep an eye out for some of those projects!_

_My inbox has blown up on here in the past two weeks. If you PMed me I will get back to you slowly but surely over the next few days. It's time for me to sleep. I have to get up in like 7 hours._

_Review, like, leave a favorite...share the love, man._

_Until next time, do NOT approach any bears. They are cautious and seriously misunderstood creatures._


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